Sakura's Medic Instinct
by Azreal Ezra
Summary: After her boys left, Sakura was alone. She accepts a 3 year mission to Suna with out saying goodbye. While in Suna, Sakura finds out Kakashi is missing in action. What will she do?
1. Chapter 1

Summary:

After all of her boys left her, Sakura was sent on a 3 year mission to Sand. Now she's back and she has changed. Kaka/saku pairing.

Sakura was sitting in her office going over reports. It was almost lunch and she was hoping to be able to leave for it. She had forgotten to pack a lunch and the food at the hospital was….less than appetizing. **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK** Sakura looked up and saw her assistant peak her head in. Sakura smiled 'poor girl is so timid' she thought to herself.

"You can come in Ami." Sakura spoke to the girl partially hidden behind the door.

Ami shuffled herself inside and softly closed the door.

"Good afternoon Sakura-sama, I brought you some tea to help you relax" Ami walked to the desk and sat it down in front of Sakura

"Thank you Ami! That was so thoughtful of you!" Sakura stated surprised.

Sakura immediately took a sip of the hot drink, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She heard a noise and opened her eyes to see Ami setting a bento box in front of her. Sakura was about to open her mouth to say the food wasn't necessary… until her stomach let out a loud growl, making itself known. Ami giggled lightly as Sakura's face turned red.

"I didn't see you bring a lunch so I figured we could share mine and we could have lunch together." Ami spoke softly.

Sakura smiled big and laughed, "What would I do without you Ami". 'Seriously', Sakura thought to herself 'this girl is a life saver'. "Probably die of food poisoning from the hospital food" Ami said while laughing, making Sakura laugh with her.

Sakura looked at the young woman in front of her. She had grown quite fond of Ami, who has been her assistant for almost 3 years now. She will certainly miss her when she needs to go back to Konoha. She ran into Ami about 4 months after arriving in Suna on a mission to revamp their hospital system and staff at the request of Gaara. She had gone through 3 assistants already by that time; none could handle Sakura's temper.

FLASHBACK

Sakura had lost a patient that day. It was particularly hard on her because it was a child, only 12 years old. His name was Ita. He was on a D ranked mission, finding a lost dog, when his team was ambushed by an intruder in the village. He was hit by a poisoned kunai while protecting his team mate. The poison was one that had never been seen before. Sakura did her best; she even called Tsunade to Suna. But even Tsunade couldn't help. The child died with his friends, family, team mates, and the Kazekage by his side. Gaara promised him he would be regarded as a hero for his actions in saving his team mate. Sakura was there for him until the very end. When he passed, she went to her office and lost it. She broke down crying. She couldn't help him….she was still weak… She wanted to break something…no she NEEDED to break something. She jumped out the window and made her way to the training grounds her and Gaara often used for sparring sessions together.

Sakura had demolished everything in sight, leaving huge craters in the ground. She was pushing chakra into her fist once more when she felt light headed and things started to go dark. She awoke hours later in a sleeping bag next to a fire. She looked up and noticed all of the stars. 'I must have been out for hours' she thought to herself as she tried to push herself up. Her arms felt like mush and she tried as hard as she could to get up. She grunted with effort and closed her eyes in frustration. She felt a hand on her shoulder pushing her down. She opened her eyes to see a young girl, a teenager really, kneeling over top of her. The girl put her hand to Sakura's forehead. 'I must have been running a fever' thought Sakura as she started to look around, and take in her surroundings. She didn't know who this girl was or where she was at. But it didn't seem like she had been attacked or kidnapped. The girl finally spoke up, startling Sakura. "You shouldn't try to move Sakura-sama, you exhausted your chakra and passed out. You should rest until morning." Something clicked in Sakura's mind 'Oooohhh, I forgot about being at the training grounds…Ita' Sakura's expression changed from confusion to understanding to relief and finally to anguish. "Is something wrong Sakura-sama?" the girl asked, catching Sakura's attention once more. Sakura looked at the girl, who started fidgeting uncomfortably from the sudden attention. "I'm sorry but I don't believe I know you." Sakura said, breaking the silence making the girl jump. The girl suddenly blushed and bowed her head . "Oh! That's so rude of me. I'm sorry Sakura-sama! My name is Ami. You wouldn't know me, I am just an intern in the hospital." Sakura noticed the girls timidness, it reminded her of how she was years ago with team 7. "That's strange. I don't recall ever seeing you there." Sakura responded. Ami slumped slightly at this and spoke so softly Sakura had barely heard her, "They keep me in the lab where I'm not in the way…" Sakura frowned at this. She was about to ask why when Ami spoke up, "What were you doing Sakura-sama? You could have died or have been greatly injured if I had not found you…?" There was a long silence. Sakura's expression turned to sorrow. "I'm sorry Sakura-sama, that was inappropriate for me to ask. It's none of my business wha-" Sakura interrupted "I lost Ita….I…." Sakura paused to compose herself, tears started falling, wetting the sand below her. "I should have been able to save him. But I failed him and now he's gone" her shoulders started shake as she cried. Ami scooted over and put a reassuring arm around Sakura, pulling her close. Sakura was surprised by this but welcomed the comfort and cried into the girls shoulder. "What could you have done differently Sakura-sama…..There was nothing anyone could do….I even heard Tsunade couldn't help. Don't blame yourself. Ita died honorably, protecting his team mate." Sakura was angered by this. "I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SAVE HIM….IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN HOW THE POISON WAS COMPOSED I COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!" Sakura was now yelling. Why? She wasn't sure. After a few minutes of silence, Ami spoke. "Your right. You are a horrible person." Ami pushed Sakura off of her and stood to walk away. Sakura looked up at Ami, shocked, and asked "what?" Ami crossed her arms and stated very matter-of-fact, "how dare you let him die. How dare you not know about that poison. How dare you not be able to see the future and see what new poisons are going to be made before they are even thought up so you can save a 12 year old boy. Clearly you are useless to humanity." Ami turned away from Sakura. No one spoke for what seemed like ages until finally Sakura tried to speak "but….I….I sh-" Sakura was interrupted once more. "Sakura, no one is saying that you can't be affected by Ita's death. In fact, we hope it does affect you and make you better…..not paralyze you. Ita died, you can't help that now. There is a million what ifs. But do NOT let Ita's death go to waste. Use his death to make yourself better. There is a poison in that hospital right now that no one has ever seen until Ita. But instead of making sure no one else dies from it ever again, you are out here wallowing in your own self-pity because you couldn't live up to your own expectations." Sakura suddenly understood and her demeanor softened. Ami sat back down and Sakura pulled her into a hug. "Thank you Ami, I understand now." Ami smiled at her accomplishment. But quickly cringed with the realization that she insulted Sakura, the head of the hospital….the person who can fire her. UGH! Ami broke from the hug with a serious look which made Sakura worried. "I apologized for insulting you Sakura-sama. That was out of line. If you want to punish me, I understand. But please don't kick me out of the hospital! I really do love my job!" there was silence, making Ami's expression even more tense. Suddenly Sakura busted out laughing, making Ami jump. "What?" Ami asked seriously. "Why are you down in the lab all the time Ami?" Ami suddenly looked down at the ground. She was silent for a bit and then finally spoke. "Because I'm not good enough to handle a patient. I can't kill anyone in the lab….." Sakura looked at the poor girl. This was obviously a touchy subject for Ami. "Ami" Sakura called out to get her attention. "Yes Sakura-sama" "Do you want to be my assistant and be my apprentice? It won't be easy, but I believe I can get you to the level you want to be." Ami stared at Sakura dumbfounded. She broke into a big smile, pulled Sakura into a tight hug and yelled "YES! OH YES PLEASE SAKURA-SAMA!"

END FLASHBACK

Ami was now the best doctor in the entire hospital next to Sakura herself. And Sakura was now a world renowned poison expert. She affectionately called the new addition to the hospital the "Ita Wing" Where poisons were studied and cures were made. Sakura smiled remembering when she and Gaara called Ami to the Kazekages office and announced she would be the next head of hospital when Sakura was to report back to Konoha. Ami cried and hugged Sakura.

Sakura decided she was tired of being in her office and asked Ami if they could find a place outside to eat their lunch. Ami guided her though the hallway and outside to the garden. They sat down and began eating. "Are you excited to go home soon? Its only 6 months away." Ami asked with an inquisitive smile. "A little nervous. It's been so long…" "Tsunade will be happy to see you. You two seem really close." "Ya. She's like a mother to me. She made me the person and medic I am today. I owe everything to her." Ami was going to continue with the conversation until she looked up and saw Sakura in deep thought. Ami decided to continue eating and let Sakura work out her thoughts.

She really did miss everyone. She had been gone for almost 3 years. She can remember when Tsunade told her the news.

FLASH BACK

Sasuke left long ago. Sakura didn't let that weigh on her mind any more. Naruto left for training once more, no one was sure for how long. Sai was assigned to ANBU and was training his new team. Every once in a while he would surprise Sakura, asking her to come to a sparring session with his team. She found this to be more because she was the top rated medic in any of the hidden villages, and Sai never took it easy on his students. She often showed up to find someone knocked out, broken bones, and blood everywhere. Sakura smiled briefly at the memories. Then there was Kakashi. He had finally convinced Sakura to stop calling him sensei, though it felt very weird to her. He hadn't taken on a new team since team 7. It wasn't often she saw him anymore. He was constantly off on missions. And when he was in Konoha, she was busy with her shifts at the hospital. They would occasionally run into each other on the street or at the Hokage's office, but those moments were often filled with false promises to make more time for each other and meet for dinner or something. Kakashi would always be fidgety and make a hasty retreat… She thought this odd and not like him but she wouldn't let it get to her. She was sure he just had things to do. And of course, there was Sakura. She was indeed the top rated medic nin in all of the hidden villages, surpassing even Tsunade herself. She was even in the bingo books and had a bounty on her head….she felt strangely proud of this. For so long she had been dead weight to her team, always needing to be protected. She was no longer weak. She had grown into a fine woman. She was highly sought after by the men in the village, having a fan club that would put Sasuke's to shame. She had grown into her forehead and no longer was referred to as "billboard brow" except by Ino. She had curves in all of the right places, her body fit and toned. And even though she wasn't nearly as busty as Ino, she had grown into a desirable woman.

Sakura was finishing up a patient at the hospital when Sai suddenly appeared behind her. "Sakura, the Hokage wishes to see you immediately" "Thank you Sai" she turned around to walk out and Sai was already gone. She made her way to the tower, wondering what Tsunade could want. It better not be for sake. She knocked on the door "ENTER" Sakura opened the door and walked to the Hokage's desk, "You wanted to see me Tsunade-sama" "Yes Sakura. I am sending you on a 3 year mission to Suna. Gaara needs help with the medics in his command. And since I can't go, I am going to send the next best person." Tsunade handed her a scroll "this scroll details your mission, you are to leave tomorrow at dawn. Take the rest of the day off to pack your things. Kiba and Shino will meet you at the gates to escort you until Suna where you will meet up with Temari. Any questions" " No" Tsunade stood from her desk to embrace her daughter. "I'll miss you Sakura, make sure you stay in touch ok?" "Yes Tsunade-sama" Sakura left. She said goodbye to Sai, telling him to inform Kakashi and Naruto when they got back. She didn't bother finding anyone else to bid goodbye to. She went home.

END FLASHBACK

"Will you miss me Ami?" Sakura suddenly spoke. "Of course I will Sakura-sama. You have become like a sister to me." They hugged each other.

A few days later Sakura was walking back to her apartment when Temari appeared in front of Sakura. "Sakura, Gaara needs to see you right now. It's important" "Let's go" They rushed to Garr's office. Temari opened the door without knocking and Sakura strode in. "Is everything ok Gaara?" "Sakura, I received word from Tsunade that Kakashi is missing. He was sent on a mission close to Suna. Tsunade wants you to go investigate. I will send Temari with you just in case. Go pack a few things and meet at the gates to leave in a half hour. I will be informing Ami to take over as head of the hospital effective immediately." "Hai" both Sakura and Temari responded and left. Sakura was worried 'what kind of trouble have you gotten into Kakashi?...'

**If you were following my story, I'm sorry I had to delete it, it was giving me errors for some reason. This being my first story on here, I'm still fumbling around on the site a bit **


	2. Chapter 2

***I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in this story***

Sakura ran back to her apartment to pack. She took 3 scrolls out of her top drawer and laid them out on the floor. She began gathering extra cloths. She threw them down on one scroll. She paused for a moment 'it's going to be winter soon…I should pack some warmer things. I don't know where this mission will take me'. With that Sakura took a box out of her closet that she hadn't looked at since she arrived in Suna. Grabbing a coat, a tent made to keep out the cold, and a warm sleeping bag. She threw those on the scroll with the others. She made some hand signs, pressed down on the scroll and sealed everything in. She placed the scroll in her backpack and went to grab some kunai and other weapons. Once she sealed all of those away she gathered her medical supplies. 'Kakashi probably will refuse any help…like usual' Sakura smiled at the thought. She remembered feeling angry at Kakashi when she was younger for paying attention to the boys and ignoring her. She felt useless, until she finally met Tsunade. Tsunade showed her how to use her amazing chakra control for healing. And she also taught Sakura how to use those same techniques to gain inhuman strength. She loved helping people more than anything. But the first time she had to treat Kakashi for some minor injuries, she learned his distaste for hospitals. She finally found something she loved to do more than helping people…..torturing Kakashi. She felt it was well deserved payback for all the years he neglected her. She continued to use her new abilities to torture him until that one day a few years back.

FLASH BACK

Sakura was doing her clinic work and was bandaging up a civilian boys arm. The young boy had been playing 'ninja' when he fell and broke his arm. "You need to take it easy for a few weeks. No 'ninjas' for a while ok?" "….Yes Dr. Haruno" "You can call me Sakura, Amaru. When people call me Dr. Haruno it makes me feel old" There was a few minutes of silence while Sakura was finishing up Amaru's arm. "um….Sakura…" "Yes Amaru" "Do you like being a ninja" Sakura looked at him and smiled. "I do. A lot" "Isn't it scary?" She gave him a very serious look "Of course it is. We risk our lives every day to make sure people like you and your family live happily and safely. But being able to see you grow up and have a family of your own someday, that's what makes it worth it." Amaru smile and laughed making Sakura laugh with him "There you go Amaru, your all finished!" "Thank you Sakura" Sakura was handing Amaru a candy for being good when Ino burst in the door. "SAKURA THERE HAS BEEN AN ACCIDENT" "Where do you need me" "Emergency room 3" Sakura stood to go out of the room when Ino grabbed her arm "Sakura….It's Kakashi" Sakura moved quickly to the door. "SAKURA!" She turned around to see Amaru behind her. She looked at him. He could see the worry in her eyes. "Do your best Sakura. I know you can help him!" Sakura smiled "Thank you Amaru, I'll check up on you in a few days. Ino, please take Amaru to his mother in the waiting room" Sakura was quickly out the door and running down the hall towards her destination. 'Kakashi...'

Sakura quickly found the room she was looking for. She threw open the doors and pushed her way past all of the nurses who were currently running around the room following orders. "WE NEED TO STOP THE BLEEDING!" Sakura finally reached the bed and sharply inhaled a breath. She was not prepared for what she saw. Kakashi lying in bed unconscious, a huge gash across his chest and stomach. And the blood….the blood was everywhere. All over him, the bed, the floor, the nurses and Tsunade. 'Snap out of it Sakura, he needs you NOW' and with that thought Sakura jumped into action. "Tsunade-sama" Sakura called out to let the Hokage know she was there and ready for orders. "Sakura we need to get the bleeding under control" Sakura immediately jumped to action, placing her hands over his stomach, pumping chakra into his deep wound. They worked on him for hours. The bleeding had stopped and most of his wounds were closed up. Tsunade took her leave, instructing Sakura to get some rest and a nurse would contact her as soon as Kakashi woke up. But Sakura couldn't leave Kakashi's side. She pulled up a chair and waited. She reached over to Kakashi and grabbed his hand "Please be ok Kakashi-sensei…please" She started to sob and she squeezed his hand harder "pl-please don't leave me" Sakura was so exhausted, her chakra nearly gone. She finally passed out, his hand in hers. Their fingers intertwined.

'What was that noise? …There it is again! …..It sounds like someone is calling my name' Sakura's eyes shot open and she flew up out of her seat. She looked down to see Kakashi awake and looking at her confused. Then she realized…she was still holding his hand! She let go quickly, her face turning bright red. She finally spoke "How are you feeling Kakashi-sensei?" "Sore" "Are you in any pain?" "My abdomen a bit" Sakura placed her hands on Kakashi's stomach and released a little chakra into him, just searching his wound for anything needing immediate attention. 'Everything looks good. Wow, his stomach is really toned! …did I really just think that? He's my sensei for heaven's sake! I must just be tired. Yeah that must be it…." Her face turned read once more. Kakashi noticed 'was she just checking me out?' Her hands left him and Kakashi missed her warmth already 'what?' Kakashi thought to himself 'I must have lost too much blood' "There is still some healing that needs done, but I don't have enough chakra yet to work on you again. I'll have a few nurses come in and finish up. But in the meantime DO. NOT. MOVE!" Kakashi laughed at her stern face. "I mean it Sensei. You could tear your wounds open. We didn't have enough chakra to heal you completely after all we had to do to stop the bleeding. You were in pretty bad shape. You shouldn't take your situation so lightly." Kakashi searched her eyes. He saw past her anger and saw she was very worried and upset. He noticed her hair was a bit longer, and her forehead was no longer big. She had beautiful emerald eyes and a smile that would light up any room. She has curves now and was very attractive. He let out a sigh 'she really has grown up hasn't she?' He noticed she was still looking at him "Sakura" "Yes Sensei" "Please just call me Kakashi. I haven't been your sensei in years. We are equals now. Calling me sensei makes me feel old" "You'll always be my sensei Sensei." "I mean it Sakura. You have worked hard to get to where you are right now. You are highly respected by the village and you are my equal. There is no need to call me sensei anymore. Maybe we could even become friends." Sakura shot him a huge smile. This made Kakashi's heart beat faster. "I would really like that Kakashi" She reached out and squeezed his hand. This time it was his turn to blush.

END FLASH BACK

Sakura sealed the medical supplies in the last scroll. She grabbed one more scroll out of the drawer in case she needed to get Kakashi's stuff when they met up. She finished putting everything in her bag. She left her apartment and ran to the gates. Temari was already waiting for her. "Hey Temari" "Ready to go Sakura" "Let's head out" Sakura began to move forward but stopped when she noticed Temari wasn't following. "Temari?" "Sakura, I know that Kakashi means a lot to you, but keep a level head ok? I know you want to rush out there to make sure he is ok but we need to make sure we are safe to….do you understand?" Sakura sighed….'Temari really knows me to well' "I understand" Temari started moving forward "good, now let's go find your boyfriend" Sakura's face immediately blushed "MY WHAT!" Temari took off running before Sakura could catch up and murder her.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura and Temari were running at a fast pace through the desert. They were coming to Suna's boarder and were starting to see some trees. Temari noticed movement above her. Looking up she saw a messenger hawk. "Sakura" She said coming to a stop. Sakura stopped next to Temari who held out her arm to let the hawk land. Temari took the scroll from the hawk and handed it to Sakura. Sakura opened the scroll and read its contents. She took out her pen and wrote something in the scroll. Temari looked at her questioningly. Sakura secured the scroll back to the hawk and nodded to Temari to send it on its way. "It was from Tsunade-sama. She sent coordinates for where Kakashi was sent on his mission. We are about 2 days out. I requested she have Yamato send tracking seeds for us to eat. Just in case something happens they will be able to track us easier." Sakura answered the unspoken question. "Sakura, we have been moving for most of the day, I think we should rest for the night. The seasons are changing and it's starting to get a bit cold at night. We should set up camp and get prepared." Sakura thought about this for a moment. "Do you think we'd be able to get to an area with a bit more shelter from the wind?" "We could but it would be another couple hours, it will be cold by then. I think we should set up here and get a fire going before it gets to cold and we get caught off guard." "Alright" Sakura responded. She decided not to argue. Temari knew her way out here better than she did anyway. She took off her backpack and took out the scroll with her tent. She unsealed it, took the tent and got it set up while Temari got some wood.

They started the fire and Sakura cooked their meal. Sakura handed Temari her bowl and sat down to eat. "Sakura, you never told me what happened between you and Kakashi. Every time he's been to Suna you avoided him. "Sakura looked up at the sky at all the stars and wondered 'What did happen between me and Kakashi….' Sakura let out a loud sigh before replying "I'm not even entirely sure what happened between us. Things had just gotten awkward for some reason." "What do you mean by awkward?" Temari replied with a mouth full of rice. "I don't know…It was like… Like he avoided me when he saw me on the street. And when he actually had to talk to me, he was very short with me. If I ever got distracted by something, he would disappear by the time I turned back around. He even requested a different medic to do his physicals…. I thought we had become friends. We used to talk all the time. We'd go to movies and out to eat. Occasionally we would end up crashing at each other's place after a late night. But then it all suddenly changed." "Hm…something had to have happened… you don't remember doing or saying anything that upset him?" Temari replied. Sakura's eyes seemed distant, as if she were scanning her memories. "No. I can't think of anything at all."

Sakura looked down at her food bowl, suddenly losing her appetite, and sat it down. Temari noticed her glumness and tried to lighten the mood. "I'm sure your boyfriend is fine Sakura! Lighten up." Sakura's eyes shot up with a death stare "He is NOT my boyfriend Temari. I thought you learned your lesson regarding that topic." Temari shot Sakura a huge smile and rubbed the back of her head "I still have a bump from your 'lesson'" Temari said laughing "but seriously though. Kakashi is H. O. T. hot! How could you not want that? I certainly wouldn't blame you." Sakura blushed surprised by Temari's words. "T-TEMARI! Kakashi is my sensei! I could never pursue him like that!" Temari smile devilishly "You didn't say you didn't like him though! HA! So you do like him. And besides, he's not your sensei anymore. You haven't been his student for years. If I were you, I'd make a move before someone else does. He has women all over him when he's in Suna. I can't imagine what it's like in Konoha!" Sakura sighed "He doesn't see me like that Temari. It would never happen." Temari frowned "How do you know it would never happen? Have you asked him? Did he reject you?" "No no, nothing like that…I just know." Temari and Sakura sat in thought for a while until Sakura yawned. "I'm so tired." "Let's go to bed. There's no need for either of us to stay up on watch. I set up chakra strings to let us know if anyone approaches." "Goodnight Temari" "Goodnight Sakura"

Sakura laid down and closed her eyes. 'I hope Kakashi is alright. I don't know what I would do if I lost him….' Her thoughts faded as she drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

They were in heavily wooded area now, jumping from branch to branch at high speeds. They had traveled 2 days without incident and were rapidly approaching where Kakashi was reportedly at. Tsunade had sent Yamato's tracking seeds like Sakura had requested as well as some additional information about the mission Kakashi was sent on. The mission didn't seem like anything that should have caused his disappearance…..But then again, you never know with Kakashi. He was in many Bingo books for the things he has accomplished and he was constantly being hunted by nin outside of Leaf. Part of Sakura really wished that he had completed his mission early and decided to find a good tree to cuddle up on and read his pervy books. But she knew that would not be the case. Kakashi wouldn't worry his friends like this.

Sakura was brought out of her thoughts as Temari signaled with her hand to stop. Temari tapped her ear and Sakura strained to hear whatever it was Termari was saying she could hear. Sakura wasn't a natural sensory type. Nor did she have hyper sensitive senses like some of her friends did because of their clans specialties. Sakura was never one to whine about her downfalls, as she had many. But she had also overcome most of them with sheer determination and willpower through her strenuous training. Sakura's mother had always brought her up to have pride in the things she can accomplish, and not to feel ashamed in the things she needed help with. She was never afraid to ask a friend to assist in her training. Most of her friends were more than willing to go at a spar with her, especially Naruto. Sakura laughed to herself at that. Training with Naruto had always been…eventful.

Temari had decided they would take a break for a half hour or so to catch their breath and get ready for any possible battle. Sakura took out her scrolls and unsealed the one with her weapons. She started loading up her thigh holster and kunai pouch. She took a small package out of her pocket and unfolded it. She handed Temari a tracking seed to eat and a soldier pill packet just in case they got separated. She split the remaining weapons in half, sealing half back in her scroll and giving the other half to Temari to seal in hers. As Sakura was packing her stuff back up Temari handed her a folded piece of paper. She looked Temari with a raised eye brow. "Don't think it's a confession of my love for your or something. I have a thing for Shika…..no offense." Sakura busted out laughing, Temari smiled "Ami gave it to me to give to you. She wanted you to have it, but only right before we were to go into battle." "Thank you Temari." Sakura made a move to put it in her pocket for later but her arm was grabbed by Temari. "Take a minute to read it now Sakura. I don't know if there will be a fight or not, but this may be the only free moment you get if there is." Sakura nodded and took the paper back out of her pocket. She opened it and a necklace fell to the ground. She picked it up and looked at it closely. It was a beautiful necklace. It had a silver chain and an emerald green stone connected. She put the note between her lips for a moment as she put the gift on. The minute it was clasped, the chain gave off a blue hue and made her entire body tingle. It gave her a very warm feeling…similar to a hug she thought. She grabbed the note again read it.

_Sakura, _

_I know it must be hard to know that someone you regard so highly could be in danger. And I know how you usually react to such news. But please, please be careful. Don't lose your patience and just go running in after Kakashi. Temari is the best tactical specialist we have so let her make the plan. I don't know what I would do if I were to lose you. You are so much more than a mentor to me, you are my sister and I love you dearly. _

_Now, with that said, don't forget about our training together. Put your mind at ease and things around you become clearer. I hope you like the necklace. I made something I knew you would love so it wouldn't look to suspicious. When you put it on it will seal with my chakra so it can't be removed unless you, and only you, put chakra into it. I made one for myself as well. If you are ever in trouble and need help, put your chakra into the stone and my stone will react and I will be able to feel it. Temari has one as well in case you guys get separated or you are too injured to do it._

_Good luck Sakura. Write me as soon as you are able._

_With love,_

_Ami_

Sakura folded the note back up and slipped it into her pack where it would be safe. 'That girl is something else' Sakura thought to herself and smiled. They were both ready to go. There were still a few minutes left to rest so Temari decided to sit down to meditate and clear her mind, she suggested Sakura do the same. Sakura sat down, crossed her legs and closed her eyes. Breathing deeply and listening to the sounds of the forest surrounding them, she began to relax. She thought back to her training in Suna to improve her sensory skills.

**FLASHBACK**

Sakura was sitting at her desk looking out the window, completely lost in her thoughts. She had been in Suna for over a year now and she was really starting to get home sick. 'I wonder what Naruto is up to….Probably thinking up some awesome new jutsu…ugh' Sakura brought her hands up to her head and began to massage her temples. 'I am a top medic nin. I shouldn't be jealous of Naruto. I just wish I could come up with something cool like him. I feel like he's leaving me behind again. I could never be at the same level as Naruto, no. I have accepted that a long time ago…..But I still need to be able to support him, not drag him down. I am amazing at healing and I can hold my own in a fight…But holding my own isn't good enough. I spend too much of my time reacting to what is happening in the battle. But what am I supposed to do. I don't have any bloodline limits. I don't have any summons. I don't even have my own special technique. Everything I have is someone else's…..' Sakura dropped her head into her hands. 'What can I do? I can't just sit here in Suna and do nothing. There has to be someone that could help me figure out something' Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder she screamed and jumped up, losing her balance and falling backwards on the chair, flipping it onto the floor. "Oh my goodness Sakura-sama! Are you ok? Here, let me help you up!" Ami rushed to grab Sakura's hands and lift her off the ground. Sakura stood still as Ami picked up the chair, sliding it back against the wall so that wouldn't happen again. "Sakura-sama, are you ok? I am SO sorry!" Sakura sighed and looked up at Ami, "Yes, I am fine, thank you. But do you always have to so quiet and go sneaking up on me like that! Make some noise when you are entering rooms for goodness sake!" Ami looked surprised "I am sorry Sakura-sama, but I am kind of a ninja. That's what we are trained to do. Are you ok?" "Yes I'm fine. Just scared me I guess…" "That's not what I meant. You seem off today. Maybe a bit gloomy? In your head a lot?" Sakura smiled to herself. She has always been easy to read. And Ami was never afraid to call her out on that sort of thing. "Nothing is really wrong. I'm just…..I dunno…I'm just feeling sorry for myself today." Sakura turned to look out the window again. Ami noticed the look on Sakura's face…this was the look Sakura always gets when she's thinking about home….thinking about Naruto and Kakashi. Sakura had been feeling a bit home sick from what Ami could see. She really missed being able to talk to Tsunade who was like a mother to her. Ami knew just the thing to help. "Sakura, meet me by the entrance in 20 minutes ok? And bring your lunch." Sakura turned around and looked at Ami. 'She didn't call me Sakura-sama…just Sakura.' "Of course Ami." With that, Ami scurried out of Sakura's office.

She ran full speed down to the nurses' station. Today was a slow day and Sakura was feeling gloomy. The perfect day to surprise Sakura. Ami had been planning the surprise for Sakura with the nursing staff for almost 2 months now. All of the hospital staff loved Sakura and were glad to see the old head of hospital leave. And since Ami was taken under Sakura's wing, they all respected her and jumped at the chance to help Ami when she wanted to put together a huge surprise for her mentor. She came up on the nurses' station and stopped. The receptionist looked up and smiled. "What brings you to the station today Ami?" Ami gave her a big bright smile "Today is the day!" That's all that needed said. The receptionist flashed a big smile at Ami and responded "I'll get the girls together, what's the plan?" "Sakura-sama is feeling a bit down and homesick as of late and it's pretty bad today. I told her to meet me at the entrance in 20 minutes and to bring food. I am going to take her to the East Wing garden for lunch to try and cheer her up and talk out her problems. I need you to have everything finished in about 30 minutes, by then she will want to come back in. When we are walking back in I will have her tell me a story about Naruto. That always gets her mind to wander, and she will pretty much follow me where ever I go. Then I will walk down towards you girls. Be ready! Everything you need to get is in the 2nd floor janitor closet. Sakura never goes near there!" "She is going to love it Ami. This is going to be amazing!" The receptionist quickly told the part-time helper to take over and she quickly was off to tell the rest of the staff. Ami walked towards the entrance smiling. She couldn't wait to see Sakura's face.

A few months ago when Sakura told her she really missed Konoha, she asked Temari if she knew of any way to get some things from Sakura's home to Suna. Temari brought Ami to Gaara and had her explain everything to Gaara. Gaara advised her to get together a list of things she wished for, and she would send Temari on a mission to Leaf to retrieve it. So that's exactly what she did. She thought back to all of her conversations with Sakura and wrote down all of the people she mentioned in her stories, all of the things Sakura happened to mention she missed about her home town. She handed her list to Gaara the next morning. Gaara advised Ami that he had sent a messenger hawk to Tsunade the previous day forewarning her, in case the Hokage could think of something on her end. Ami was surprised at the affection Gaara showed towards Sakura. Temari had told her that Gaara was really close with Naruto, and had always looked at him as a brother, as well as Sakura like a sister. Temari felt much the same way about Sakura.

When all was said and done, Tsunade sent a message to Gaara that all was complete and that she needed Temari for an "escort mission" and was to meet Shikamaru half way between Sand and Leaf to finish the mission back to Sand. Gaara called Temari and Ami to his office and told them about the mission and told Ami that when Temari arrived back, to tell Sakura she was needed in his office and he would occupy her when Ami and Temari packed everything into the hospital.

Ami saw Sakura making her way down to her. She smiled at Sakura and Sakura smile back, quickening her pace. Sakura welcomed the distraction Ami offered as they made their way to the East Wing garden, one of Sakura's favorite places to unwind. They sat down and unpacked their lunches. "So Sakura, what's been bothering you?" 'There it is again…she called me Sakura. Not that I mind, it's just weird to hear it' Sakura thought to herself. 'She must be trying to approach me as a friend, not my apprentice.' Sakura knew by now she couldn't hide anything from Ami, she didn't fight it anymore like she used to. "I dunno Ami….I just feel useless." "Useless? How so?" Sakura sighed. "Don't get me wrong. I know what I am doing here is far from useless. But I was just thinking earlier about how much I missed Konoha and how much I missed Naruto. And I got to wondering what he is doing on his training…." Sakura looked at the sky and stopped talking. Ami decided to get this conversation moving so she interrupted Sakura's thoughts. "And how exactly does thinking about Naruto's training make you feel useless?" There was a long pause before Sakura spoke again. "Naruto is probably off training really hard, making some new jutsu and becoming and even more powerful shinobi. What am I doing? I am helping a lot of people, sure. But I am not bettering myself. I am not making myself stronger. I know that I can never catch up to him Ami, but I…..I always want to be able to support him. If I stay at the level I am at while he is off training, I'll be left behind and nothing but a burden to him…." 'This is going to be a tough one' Ami thought to herself. "So what are you going to do about it Sakura?" "I don't know what I can do." "Ok, so what are your weaknesses?" "I dunno, I could probably be stronger. Be better at fighting in general. Ugh! There are so many things Naruto does better than me, I don't know where to start!" Ami started to laugh "What?" "I am sorry but I thought your name was Sakura, not Naruto." "You know what I mean Ami." "I know you've had a pretty dysfunctional team your entire career Sakura, so let me fill you in on a secret. Not every ninja has the same skills. That's why they are set on teams. Each member's skills should complement each other skills. So let me ask you again. What are YOUR weaknesses" Sakura thought deeply about this. Taking a minute to come up with an answer. "Although I am a highly skilled medic, and perhaps better in battle than most other medics, I feel like I'm on the defensive all the time. My fighting skills just aren't where they need to be to keep me in line with the team and not be a burden." "Ok, that's a great place to start! Why do you think you are more on defense during a battle?" "Because I can't keep up with their speed or their stealth. They are sneaking up on me or they are too fast. It causes me to open to injury, and medics can't let that happen. If I were to be taken down in battle because of my lack of skills, I would be a burden to my team. Or even worse, I wouldn't be able to heal them. My fighting style requires a lot of chakra as you have started seeing yourself. So my stamina isn't where it needs to be to last out a battle. " "That's amazing Sakura!" "What is?" Sakura looked at Ami confused. "None of those things are unfixable right? You just need some training!" "Right, but who will train with me. Gaara is too busy and everyone else is afraid I'll kill them." "I'll train with you Sakura-sama." "But I am training you, how would that work?" Sakura said laughing at Ami's antics. "I have a plan, don't you worry! We will start training tomorrow morning at 5am, training ground 2. Agreed?" "Agreed!" They finished their lunch and Sakura got up, brushing herself off. "We should head back to the office, it's been about 30 minutes." "Of course Sakura-sama, let me just clean up." Ami and Sakura cleaned up their small picnic and headed back into the hospital. Sakura was deep in thought already so Ami wanted to continue with the plan "Sakura-sama?" "Hm?" "You always talk about Naruto with such high regards, tell me, how did you get so close to him?" Sakura smiled and started telling Ami about her genin days when she was so obsessed with Sasuke and how she never noticed all of the things Naruto used to do for her. She told Ami about how the village used to treat him before he defeated Pain. She told Ami how selfless he was.

Ami nodded at Sakura as she was listening to her story as she led her into the hospital. The part-time helper winked at Ami, the signal that everything was set to go. Ami led an unknowing Sakura through the halls. When Ami stopped abruptly, Sakura ran into the back of her. Sakura was confused. She looked around and saw the emergency wing down the hall. Sakura looked at Ami who was walking into a door way. On the plaque next to the door, it read: _DR. HARUNO SAKURA – HEAD OF HOSPITAL_. Now she was really confused. This was most certainly not her office. "Ami?" Sakura said as she entered the doorway after Ami, it was dark. She heard the door close and spun around. She stood for a moment and listened for any noise…and there was none. She put her arms out in front of her and began to fumble around for a light switch. 'YES! FOUND IT!' Sakura flipped the switch and was startled by everyone yelling SURPRISE from behind her. She spun around quickly and saw the most amazing sight, it brought tears to her eyes. Everyone from the nursing staff was there. The office was huge! And that was probably an understatement. All of her stuff had been moved from her office down to this one. She smiled and ran to Ami, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you Ami! This office is exactly what I wanted. It's so much bigger!" Sakura hugged and thanked everyone as they all departed her new office to go back to their duties. Sakura couldn't believe Ami had pulled this off. This office was huge! It had an area its own research area that had a mini lab, a small library, a meeting room….it was just amazing. "Why don't you look around Sakura-sama" Sakura grabbed Ami by the hand and pulled her around the office, she didn't want to miss one thing Ami had put in. All the colors were exactly what Sakura would have picked out. She was looking at her library when Ami tugged on her hand leading Sakura towards a door. She pushed a button and the door opened. 'An elevator?' Sakura thought to herself questionably. They stepped in and Ami pressed the UP button. Sakura noticed there must only be access to 2 floors. "Close your eyes Sakura-sama, this is the last part of your surprise." Sakura smiled and laughed. She closed her eyes and answered back. "Good, because I don't know if I could take many more surprises." Ami laughed. Sakura heard the doors open and Ami lead her forward. She felt Ami let go. "You can open then now Sakura" Sakura opened her eyes and her jaw dropped. Tears started down her face once more. "This is your On-Call room. I know how you like to stay when you have critical patients." Sakura looked around at her new room, which was the size of a small apartment. It had a TV, furniture, and a small kitchen. She saw 2 doors which she figured where the bathroom and bedroom. As she looked more closely at the decorations, she noticed the pictures. They were pictures of all of her friends back home! Ino, Ten Ten, Hinata, Tsunade, Shizune and Ton Ton, a group picture of the boys. They were all there. On the table there were 3 more pictures. She sat down on her couch and looked. One was the original picture of Team 7 with her, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. One was of her and Naruto at the winter festival. She smiled as she remembered Naruto begging her, and her agreeing reluctantly as long as they dressed up. And the last was of her and Tsunade mid spar just a few years ago. She got up and pulled Ami into a tight hug. "Thank you so much Ami, this is exactly what I needed." Ami hugged her back just as tightly "You're welcome Sakura-sama" They stood like that for a moment longer. Ami was the first to let go as she gripped Sakura's shoulders. "Don't forget about training in the morning Sakura" "I won't Ami. Training ground 2. See you then." "See you." Ami entered the elevator and left. Sakura couldn't stop smiling as she looked at her amazing bathroom and her amazingly comfortable bedroom that also had a balcony. 'I might just move in here' she laughed to herself.

The next month Sakura and Ami met for training early in the morning. Sakura had drastically increased her stamina. There weren't any short to do that. Just long hard training sessions. Sakura had mentioned to Ami that she couldn't sense people with or without chakra, it didn't matter. And she couldn't see well in the dark. She also told Ami how she was envious of the Byakugan and Sharingan. So Ami suggested that they research the 2 in their free time and maybe she could come up with a way to duplicate it out of their bloodlines. Sakura send a request to Tsunade for all of the information they could have. After a week or so they received the information and began the long process of research. Each night they would go up to Sakura's On-Call room (aka her new apartment) and would discuss what they found out, writing it on a dry erase board. They things they were coming up with were promising. Sakura's chakra control really helped with this. She could put tiny amounts chakra to specific parts of her body and slowly increase as not to damage the nerves. Within a few months Ami and Sakura had come up with a jutsu that would increase sensitivity of the senses. They had only told Gaara and Tsunade about this. For now it was top secret.

Sakura had greatly improved using this technique. She was sure it would be helpful in battle. Her hand to hand battle techniques greatly improved but she would still have some problems with long range attacks. But they would work on that. She couldn't wait to show Naruto what she could do now!

**END FLASHBACK**

Sakura was jolted out of her meditation by Temari's voice. "Sakura, it is time to go. Are you ready?" Sakura pulled her gloves on tight, flexing her fingers and responded. "Let's go." They were back up in the trees heading towards the location where Sakura hoped they would find Kakashi.


	5. Chapter 5

It was getting pretty late. Temari was leading and Sakura was behind her keeping a sharp eye out for things as they were rapidly approaching their destination. Temari flicked her hand and started to slow down. Sakura followed suit and came up beside Temari. "We are within a few yards of where he is supposed to be. I don't feel any chakra signatures anywhere in the vicinity." "So what now?" Sakura asked. Temari looked at Sakura for a long moment with a hard look in her eyes and then answered, "We have to assume the worst Sakura. What if the enemy captured Kakashi in hopes that Tsunade would send Naruto or another high class ninja. They could be using him to set up a trap and they are hiding their chakra." Temari paused but Sakura could see she had something else to say. "What Temari? What else?" Sakura needed this information. Sakura wasn't typically the one to think about worse case scenarios, but even she could say that worst case is Kakashi is dead. She didn't want that. She wanted to think Kakashi could get himself out of most any situation. But she was no longer the delicate young girl she was when Sasuke was still around. She was a battle hardened ninja. "Temari, I'm a big girl, I can handle what you have to say. I know the circumstances could be dire but you need to talk it out with me. I need to be prepared..." Temari looked towards the forest floor for a moment then brought her eyes back to Sakura. "He could be dead Sakura." "I know Temari." "What if they were after his eye? The Sharingan is something the other hidden villages have always been after, and it wouldn't be the first time someone had attacked Kakashi to get to it." "Its true...I can think of 3 times I was on missions with him and rouge nins came at us for his eye..." Sakura crossed her arms in thought. Thinking about the Sharingan for a minute. Thinking about how much damage it could cause getting into the wrong hands. 'Sasuke cause a lot of damage with the Sharingan...I don't even what to think about another village having it also...Sasuke...what if..' "Temari what if its Sasuke! What if Kakashi ran into Sasuke! I don't know how strong he's gotten. What if we can't get Kakashi... I dont think I'm strong enough to battle Sasuke..." "Sakura...running into Sasuke is a very real possibility. I don't know if we can beat him. I do know however that we are both very strong. And you have improved greatly in your training. I think we as a team can cause Sasuke enough stress in battle to distract him and get Kakashi. You will handle tracking and close range, I will handle long range. We are a great team Sakura, don't forget that."

Temari scanned the area. She dropped down from the trees to the forest floor and started to walk slowly forward. Sakura followed, staying up in the branches. She heard a noise and looked down at Temari. Temari signaled that she still didn't feel anything and pointed up at her eye. She was telling Sakura to activate her new jutsu. 'Better safe than sorry I guess.' Sakura closed her eyes for no longer than a blink and it was activated, with out the use of hand seals. She had to practice this at length with Ami to make it as normal looking as possible. With it being top secret, she couldn't risk anyone seeing what she was doing and copying it. The only way you tell it was active was her eye color changed slightly, being a brighter green around the outter edges of her iris. Even though her eyes were the only thing that noticeably changed, all of her senses where heightened by the jutsu. Sakura closed her eyes and listened with her new ears. She heard lots of things, but nothing out of the ordinary. She also didnt smell anything that would hint at battle, like blood or decaying bodies. Keeping her eyes closed, she searched for chakra signals...and saw nothing. She look down at Temari and shook her head side to side indicating she didnt see anything. Temari motioned her to come down. Sakura jumped down and walked to Temari. "Sakura, I know you dont want to but I think we should rest for the night. Tomorrow I will have you track back the way Kakashi was supposed to come and hopefully we will find him that way. But for now I think we need to set up camp so you can do your thing. I'll keep watch and set up traps while your busy. Then we can both get sleep and recover our strength for tomorrow." Temari was right, Sakura didnt want to stop. But she knew she had to if she wanted to be able to help Kakashi when they found him. It wouldn't be good to be wore out and exhausted of all chakra. "Ok Temari..." "Lets start then" They set up camp and started a fire. Sakura cooked a small but filling meal. "Alright Sakura, lets get you set up and then you can start. We'll only set up one tent so if someone does attack they'll think its just me."

Temari would rarely talk about the technique Sakura was about to use. It had always freaked her out for some reason. It was nothing crazy. Sakura just took Tsunade's chakra storing technique (that made the diamond shape on her forehead) and made it her own. She had been thinking over starting to store chakra like her mentor. Around the same time Gaara had a diplomatic visit from another village who happened to be a specialist in seals.

FLASHBACK

Gaara was incredibly intelligent. More than most people thought. And Sakura loved having conversations with him just to talk out her thoughts. Gaara didn't mind the company. He actually really enjoyed Sakura's company and the chance for an intelligent conversation that didnt have to do with being Kage. On this particular day Sakura had 5 major surgeries in the morning as well as clinic duty and she was wore out. Her chakra levels were pretty exhausted and she was no longer useful at the hospital. Of course Sakura didnt want to leave so Ami suggested that they go visit Gaara to talk about the new jutsu more. Sakura would never turn down a chance to see the typically very busy Kage.

There was a knock at the door. He looked up to see Ami's head pop in with a big smile on her face. He knew that smile. Ami would only look at him like that when she was dragging Sakura out of the hospital and using him as a distraction. "Good morning Gaara-sama. Would you like some visitors to distract you from your paperwork? Because I know of two beautifully charming women who would love to help you with that." Gaara could help but smirk at Ami's antics. "Of course Ami, you and Sakura can come in, please just let my assistant know I am going to be busy for a while to hold any visitors." Ami scurried off as ordered and Sakura entered the room. "Good morning Gaara. I hope we arent disturbing you." Sakura said with a beaming smile. "Not at all Sakura. Its good to see you." Gaara gave her a genuine smile. She only saw those kinds of smiles when he was pretty stressed out and really needed a break from his work. She was happy to provide this for him.

Sakura sat down as Ami came in the room, shutting the door behind her. Gaara motioned for her to have a seat next to Sakura. Ami sat down and Sakura spoke. "Ami suggested I talk a few things through with you about the new jutsu." Gaara stayed silent and waited for her to continue. "But actually if its ok with you Ami, I have something else that has been on my mind that I want to debate with the 2 of you." Ami raised her eye brow at the sudden change of plans but nodded in agreement. "Ok, so here's what I'm thinking. With the new jutsu we have been working on, our regular medical jutsu, and any new ones we may create...the problem isnt out stamina anymore, its our chakra limitations. I only did 5 surgeries today and I'm already exhaus-" "5 major surgeries Sakura." Ami interrupted Sakura with a look of disbelief at what she was saying. Who on earth would just brush that off like it was useless. "And with the type of surgeries they were, I'm surprised your not knocked out from chakra exhaustion!" "But that's my point Ami, how many doctors do we have in our hospital that are at our level. None. We have maybe 2 to 3 promising candidates but not one person stands up to our level. Not even to mention that most of the medic nin here are useless in battle. They all hide away and cant contribute if needed. They are a liability." Sakura just realized she insulted Gaara's people. "I'm sorry Gaara. I know that sounded harsh but it's true. You know it as well as I do. I would not trust any of them with your life at this point. Especially in battle!" For the first time since they entered Gaara spoke. "Its fine Sakura, I agree with you to a point. Most of them are good at doing the clinic duties with minor injuries but none are advanced enough to help you and Ami when our ninjas come back from missions in bad shape. I know if I went to battle and was injured badly, I would request you and Ami for the procedure." Sakura blushed at the complement. Its not often Gaara dishes those out. "Its the reason I requested the best medic in Konoha, we need obvious improvements in this area. So what do you suggest we do about it Sakura? Hunt down new medic nin? If that's the case I am going to have to extend your mission." Gaara crossed his arms, looking very smug with himself. "My problem isnt the people, its the level they are at. They all work hard, but everyone has their limits on chakra. Even I have my limits, as much as I hate to admit it. Ami and I just have higher levels of chakra. So what I have been thinking over is chakra storage techniques." "You mean like the Hokage's?" Ami questioned. "Yes and no. I want to not only be able to store it, but I want it to be functional. This is where it gets a little fuzzy. What happens if I get knocked out or pass out or something. What if, if I were unable to direct my chakra myself, it could do it itself." "Is that even possible?" Ami was flabbergasted. "I dont know that's why I wanted to talk to Gaara about seals. What if we could store the chakra and put a seal on it. And What if then, we put a seal on our team members we are going on a mission with. What if I got knocked out and they got injured. They, or someone else could activate the seal on their body and it would start to draw my chakra. Kind of like a summoning jutsu or something." Gaara smiled at Sakura's cleverness. "You have perfect timing Sakura, I have a seal specialist coming for a diplomatic meeting 3 days from now. Be here at 8am sharp. Also, take the rest of today to research summoning. You are going to need a good understanding of it before you can proceed." Sakura took this as her signal that their meeting was over and stood up, Ami following suit. Sakura bowed slightly, "Thank you Gaara. I will do my best." Sakura rose up and looked at Gaara with a very determined look in her eyes. "I don't think you know how to do anything less Sakura." Gaara said with a slight smirk. Ami opened the door for Sakura, and gave Gaara a small bow before following Sakura out of the office. Ami stopped at Gaara's assistant's desk and told her that he was free again.

Ami and Sakura went to her "On-Call" room and started drawing it all out on her dry erase board. Hours later, Ami had made tea. She entered the room with 2 cups, handing one to Sakura. "The possibilities with your theory are unreal Sakura. This could be the biggest break through in our field yet. Maybe this would even put you above Tsunade?" Ami said with a slight giggle. "I dont think so Ami. I dont have that whole healing a mass amount of people thing going for me. But we are getting there." Sakura said, lightly hitting Ami in the arm. They had just come up with 2 new techniques, but needed to wait to talk to the seal specialist before they could continue. It was getting late and Ami decided to call it a night. "I'll see you in the morning Sakura. Meet me at 6 for a quick spar?" "Absolutely" Sakura walked Ami to the door, giving the girl a tight hug and waved goodbye.

Sakura and Ami met like they planned for a quick spar. Ami pointed out the time and they decided to race to Gaara's office. Loser buys lunch. After about a 5 minute sprint, Sakura had won. The first time she ever won. 'I really am improving after all!' They both arrived to Gaara's door breathless. Sakura knocked lightly. "Enter" They heard Gaara from the other side of the door. Sakura opened the door and let Ami enter first, closing the door behind her. They both bowed slightly. "Good morning Gaara-sama" they both said in unison. "Good morning Sakura, Ami. Please have a seat, my guests will be here any mome-" A knock at the door interrupted him and his assistant opened the door. "Your 8am appointment is here Sir." Gaara nodded and the assistant motioned for someone to come in. Gaara had a knowing smirk on his face. He had a surprise for Sakura and his guest. And she gave him the perfect set up with her chakra storing techniques.

The guests entered and Sakura's eyes went wide in shock. She was speechless. A tear rolled down her face. "SAKURA-CHAN!" Sakura leaped forward almost knocking Naruto onto the floor. "Oh kami...I cant believe its you Naruto. I've missed you so much." Sakura said laughing and crying at the same time. She was so involved with Naruto that she didn't notice the other guest. "Sakura-chan, could you loosen your arms? I cant breath." Naruto said laughing. Sakura felt arms around her waist pulling her up off the floor from Naruto. "Calm down Ugly. Aren't you supposed to heal people, not kill them?" She knew that voice. She smiled, spun around and gave him a tight hug. "Sai..." Sakura barely said above a whisper. "Its good to see you to Sakura." Sai held her close. They heard someone clear their throat and they all looked up. Gaara was standing with his arms crossed with a raised eye brow. And Ami was standing in the same spot she was when Naruto and Sai entered, her eyes wide, mouth agape, and a slight blush across her cheeks. "As much as I would love to keep this heart warming reunion going, we really do have some work to do here." Gaara said, walking over to his desk and sitting down. They all sat down following Gaara's lead. Sakura sat between Naruto and Sai, Ami sat on the other side of Sai. "Sakura, I arranged for Naruto and Sai to stop in Suna on their way back from a mission to pick up your research scrolls to send to Tsunade. Its much safer than sending them my messenger hawk. Given the level of security Tsunade wants to keep over your new jutsu, I felt this was the best op-" Naruto turned to her, grabbed her hand and smiled "You made a new jutsu Sakura-chan? That is AMAZING! I cant wait to see it." Sakura blushed slightly at the acknowledgement. "As I was saying" Gaara continued uneffected by Naruto's outburst "This was also the perfect opportunity for Sakura to talk to a seal specialist. Naruto, Sai. Sakura is on the verge of creating a ground breaking medical technique that would be imperative in the field. I feel like it is very similar to a summoning jutsu, though I am not an expert in that area. Since both of you are more informed in that area than me, I felt it a good idea for Sakura to spend some time with you. I have sent Tsunade word that you are staying for no longer than 2 weeks to help her with this." With that said, Gaara got up and excused himself from the room to allow them to speak.

"Naruto? Your the seal specialist Gaara was talking about?" Sakura looked at him questioningly. Naruto smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "Yea, I guess we havent talked in a while. I found out that my father was the 4th Hokage. And my mother's clan were experts in sealing techniques." Naruto lifted his shirt slightly showing the seal on his stomach "That's where my father learned to do this. When I talked to Tsunade about it, she gave me the clearance I needed to look into my past, find out about my family. And I was able to find the family sealing scrolls. And I have been studying them hard and training with Pervy-Sage to perfect them since then." 'He's gotten stronger. He's grown up so much' Sakura thought to herself. She pulled him into a hug and he hugged her back "I'm so glad you found your past Naruto." Naruto gave her a squeeze "No matter who my famiy was in the past Sakura-chan, you are always going to be my family now and forever right?" "Of course Naruto. Now and forever" They let go of each other.

"So lets get started! We only have 2 weeks to perfect this. With the description that Gaara gave in the letter, I agree that its similar to summoning with alittle help of some seal work. Sai and I were discussing it and I believe we also came up with another techniques that could tie into this. But first thing is first, you need to learn to summon. I brought a few summoning contracts that Pervy-Sage gave me for you to pick from. You just need to pick what best suits you." Sakura looked at the pile of the scrolls Sai took out of his nap sack and sat on Gaara's desk. Sakura stood up and motioned Ami up to her as well. "You should pick one that falls inline with your fighting style." Naruto stated.

Sakura stood up and turned to Naruto, just realizing she forgot to introduce Ami. "Oh kami Ami, I am so rude. Naruto, Sai, this is my apprentice and assistant Ami. Ami, these are my team mates." Ami went to bow in respect to them when she was stopped by Naruto hugging her. "Its nice to meet you Ami! Thank you for keeping Sakura-chan company while I was away training!" Naruto gave her a big smile that make Ami blush and laugh. "I've hear much about you Naruto, Sai. Its so good to meet you finally." "Sakura, should Ami pick one to? I mean, I have enough of them. And if she is training under you I think it would be good for her to learn while we are here to right? And it would help Gaara and relations with Konoha." Sakura was shocked 'Naruto really has grown a lot. He's even thinking politically...' "I do agree that it would be a great idea to train her as well if it isnt to much trouble. She is a very fast learner. That is, if you want to Ami. I dont want to force you." "Are you kidding? I would never pass up an opportunity to train with you. Now I even get to train with your team! I am so excited." Ami smiled and turned back to the scrolls to pick out what one she wanted. "Come one Sakura, lets pick one and get started." Sakura laughed at Ami. The looked at them for another 5 minutes. Sakura settled on cat summoning and Ami settled on snakes since she was going to stay in the desert.

Naruto spent the few days explaining the contract and how much chakra control it takes to properly summon which animal you want. Showing them examples of his summons. This was right up their ally since they already had incredible chakra control. By the end of the week they were summoning perfectly. Now they had one week to complete the seal training. But that time went way to quickly. Learning seals isnt something you can just do in a week. It takes time. It was a few days until Naruto and Sai had to leave, so they decided to try the theory that her boys came up with.

"So I was thinking, what if you had a chakra tattoo, similar to Tsunade's, but where ever you want it to be. And it was made of special ink that Sai developed recently so that you could summon whatever it was, it could come alive in a sense and release itself of your body. They would be able to move like Sai's ink summons. Then say, for example, I was injured on my arm. The summon would come to me, and attach itself to my arm over the wound. It would look like I had a tattoo as well. It would heal me using the chakra you stored in it, then it would return to you." Sakura was amazed. They had come up with a great plan, and a functional one. She didnt really like tattoos but this was an exception. "The tattoos would need to be cats so I dont upset my summons." "Great! Sai brought the ink with him. You can find a local tattoo artist and get them right now so we can train some more!"

And thats exactly what Sakura and Ami did. She got two cats on her hips, one on her lower back, and one on the back of her neck to start. Ami got a snake coiled around her forearm, her leg, and 2 up her back. But Sakura also decided to surprise the boys with one of her own. She had an idea.

She met with the boys later that night to show off her ink. The 2 on her hips looked like very simple black domestic house cats. The one on her lower back was a panther and the one on the back of her neck was a cheetah. All made for speed and stealth. Then she showed them the extra one she got. Black angel wings on her shoulder blades and back. She explained to Naruto her idea. "I just need you to seal the base of the wings to my back so they dont come off like the other ones, and I'll show you what I mean." Naruto did as he was asked, it took him a few hours. Once he was done, Sakura stretched out. Sai began training her to summon her new helpers. Storing chakra in them was easy, Sai's ink actually attracted her chakra to it. The day they were leaving, she was finally able to show her boys, and Gaara what her idea was. She asked Naruto to let her cut him up a little. He agreed to the surprise of everyone. She took out a kunai and gave him a few shallow buts all over the place. "Now, for a normal medic this would be a disaster. Most can only heal what their hands are over. But watch this. Sakura closed her eyes to summon her tattoos up. The panther and cheetah came off first and looked to be standing guard. Then her wings came up. The seals prevented them from leaving her body. They turned a beautiful green color when Sakura's healing chakra when into them. She walked up to Naruto, wrapped her arms around him, her wings followed suit. It looked as if he was in a cocoon of green light. When she let go, he was healed and her tattoo summons when back onto her body. "THAT WAS AMAZING SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto hugged her. "I put together a report for Tsunade, you and Sai can brief her of the results. I'll miss you guys." "Ill miss you to Sakura-chan. I'll see you soon enough. Then we can go for ramen!" Sakura giggled and quickly gave Sai a hug. She needed to get back to the hospital.

END FLASHBACK

Sakura began to put more chakra into her tattoos. She had added a few more since then, a lion, tiger, and a cougar. She kept at it until she felt her chakra was near empty. She needed to sleep the rest of the night to replenish it. She took a pill Tsunade had given her to speed up her chakra regeneration. Her eyes drifted close and she drifted into a sound sleep. Her last thoughts were of Kakashi. 'I hope I have gotten strong enough to help you and not get in the way.'


	6. Chapter 6

Sakura felt funny. Her neck was stiff. She felt as if she were flying. As she awoke a bit more she realized someone was holding her legs. Her eyes shot open, looking up slightly. She saw 4 dirty blond pigtails. She let out the breath she didnt realize she had been holding. Temari was carrying her on her back. 'I must have been out cold. I dont remember her grabbing me at all.' This happened often when Sakura pushed herself to that level of chakra depletion. And she wouldnt wake up for anything until her chakra was replenished to a respectable level. She couldnt control this, she never cared to. She never was in this kind of situation. Now she felt pretty bad. Temari had to get her out of the tent, pack every thing up. Carry both of their packs and carry Sakura at the same time. Doing all of this on her own. 'I'll have to make it up to her some how after this.'

Sakura squeezed her legs against Temari's sides gently to let her know she was awake with out startling her. Temari dropped out of the trees to the ground, squatting down to let Sakura off and dropping the packs on the ground. She stretched our arms and back out shrugging her shoulders up and down to loosen the muscles that were stiff from carrying Sakura. "Finally awake princess?" Temari said sticking her tounge out. Sakura blushed alittle in embarassment. "Ya...I'm sorry about that. I forgot to mention that part. I'll make it up to you, whatever you want! Just name it!" Sakura heard Temari let out a low chuckle. "Its fine Sakura. Ami warned me ahead of us leaving that this may happen. She told me just to let you sleep it out if possible or you wont have enough chakra to do much. I tried not to wake you but honestly, it didnt seem like much would." Sakura gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of her head "Probably not. One time when Ami and I were training on this and I passed out, she tried to carry me to bed." Sakura laughed remembering the next morning. "I woke up the next morning with blood on the floor because Ami had tried to get me through the doorway to my bedroom carrying my bridal style and hit my head. I didn't even wake up then." Temari laughed with her. "We all knew you had a thick sk-" Sakura interrupted Temari by holding up her hand and spun her head around quickly, listening intently. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Temari stood still, looking down at the ground, holding her breath to listen closely to what Sakura was suddenly interested in. There was silence between the two for a few moments...Termari's head shot up and she grabbed Sakura's arm. Sakura moved her eyes to Temari who was now motioning with her hand pointing to her ear that she heard something. She then watched Temari bring her hand up to her chest and make a small rubbing motion, it was the signal that she felt chakra. Sakura stepped close to Temari leaning towards her ear. Temari put her mouth up to Sakura's ear and whispered "I hear people, its low but I hear them. I feel two, maybe 3 chakra signatures. They dont seem like civilian. Do you want to risk it?" Sakura knew what she was talking about. Does she risk activating her jutsu to see if she can get more information, but possibly give away their locations. Or do they supress their chakra and stalk closer to this group using non chakra methods. With what was at stake, she didnt know if she could afford not to use her jutsu. But she also didnt know what Kakashi's chakra felt or looked like. She had, like most shinobi, been able to sense chakra. But she wasnt able to distinguish a specific person's chakra signature until after her training in Suna. Sakura nodded her head to Temari indicating she was going to do it. And with a blink of the eyes her jutsu was activated.

She could hear the voices now _"Come on! Hurry up before he kills us for being late!" "Its not my fault you didnt knock him out like you were supposed to. If he kills anyone, its going to be you for not following orders. He said bring Hatake to him ALIVE, not holding on to life by a thread!" "Well how was I supposed to know he was still going to have that much fight left in him after he fought Juugo and Kisame! We're lucky he couldn't use his eye anymore or we'd be dead." _Sakura's eyes were wide with horror. They were talking about Kakashi. And it sounded as if he was hurt badly. Sakura leaned forward to Temari, speaking in a low voice. "I feel three chakras, one is pretty faint. I heard two people talking about Kakashi. It sounds like he fought Juugo and Kisame, they are Sasuke's team. They didnt give details but it sounds like maybe he beat them, but used his eye to much so these 2 were able to get him with out much of a fight. They talked like he was pretty hurt." They both fell silent for a moment until Temari spoke up "Can you tell their rank?" Temari looked at Sakura, you could see it in her eyes she was getting her mind ready for battle "Probably Jounin, maybe lower. Their chakra is stable but nothing at a level like yours or mine. I think they just caught Kakashi at a really bad time after he over used his eye. He cant keep up in battle in that kind of condition." Temari nodded in agreement, she has seen the Copy Nin in battle and saw what over use of his eye does to him. "Are you ready Sakura?" Sakura nodded and they both lept into the trees.

Sprinting at lightning speeds through the branches, Temari was the first to make a move. She dropped down to the forest floor and whipped her fan around causing a HUGE gust of wind to knock the two ninja backwards. She didnt put anything into it that could cause damage, she just wanted them to drop Kakashi.

Sakura, with her jutsu still activated, saw silver flying through the air. She pushed chakra into her feet and pushed herself forward as hard and as fast as she could to hopefully get to him in time. She pushed herself off the next tree changing her direction to the left. She found herself with in reach of the Copy Nin. Grabbing on to him and bringing him tight against her, she blocked most of the impact of them hitting a tree. Sakura landed with a thud. She noticed immediately that Kakashi was unconsious. She threw him over her shoulders before the two enemy ninja could notice her and she ran off into heavy brush. A few hundred yards away she found a large rock covered in thick bushes. She bit her thumb slamming it to the ground, summoning her team. A large snow leopard and lioness appeared.

They looked to Sakura and then noticed the limp silver headed man. "Hidenka" Sakura broke the silence. The white cat looked at Sakura with bright focused eyes "What did you get yourself into this time child." the cat spoke with elegance. "I am truly sorry to have called you Hidenka but this isnt training. We are battling two enemy ninja. This man," Sakura pointed back to Kakashi and Hidenka's eyes followed, "his name is Kakashi Hatake, he was injured badly during a previous fight. Kakashi is very dear to me. Please watch him while I go fight with Temari. I know you hate when I show weakness but honestly Hidenka...I dont know what I would do if I were to ever lose him." Hidenka looked back to Sakura to see that her jutsu was activated. How could she possibly say no to this cub when she had that look in her eyes. "Of course Sakura, leave your other summons here to start the healing process and we will make sure no danger comes to him." "Thank you Hidenka. Thank you Shi" Both the cats nodded. As Sakura was summoning her tattoos, Hidenka and Shi summoned a few other large cats to help keep Kakashi guarded.

Sakura's tattoos were going to Kakashi. She took a moment to run chakra through the tracking seed she had eaten. She also grabbed the necklace Ami gave her. She didnt have time to heal Kakashi but she knew he was in bad shape. She didnt know if she would be able to help him after this, or what kind of condition she would be in. So she thought she'd better be safe than sorry. She ran chakra through the necklace as Ami had instructed. Sakura ran over to where Hidenka and Shi were briefing the other cats. She knelt down in front of Hidenka. "Everything is prepare, I called for backup." Hidenka nodded "Go now Sakura. Take Kaji with you. You need to end this quickly, I feel a bad presence coming." Sakura got up and large black leopard laid down in front of her. She got on Kaji's back and held on as he charged forward. She tried to remain focused on the battle ahead but she found her mind drifting back to Kakashi. 'Hold on just alittle bit loner Kakashi. Please...'


	7. Chapter 7

Kaji stalked the fight. Temari had noticed her but the other 2 didn't. Temari looked as if she had take a few hits, she had a pretty bad cut on her arm. Sakura grabbed the battle harness from the her pouch and let Kaji lift his legs into it. She leaned down once she was done securing herself "I love you Kaji, please be safe. Lets make it out of this battle together. We're family now and forever right?" "Now and forever" Kaji replied leaning his head back Sakura's cheek, nuzzling her. He had always had a soft spot for this cub even though Hidenka had always told him to be more hard on her. Sakura placed a kiss on his head and with that Kaji lept out into the battle.

They went unnoticed until the very last moment. Sakura smiled menacingly. With one swift motion, she slammed an open palm into the back of one of the men. It didn't look like she had hit him hard, but she had put enough chakra into the touch to sever his spinal cord. He dropped to the ground. The other man spun around in enough time to knock Sakura off of Kaji. She had held a tight enough grip on his harness that she was able to easily get herself back up. Kaji paused for a moment when they came next to Temari.

"Is he safe?" Temari asked. She looked nervous.

"I got him behind a boulder a few hundred yards away. Hidenka and Shi are standing guard. He's in pretty bad shape but you should be safe to go full out now." Sakura knew the questions wasn't if Kakashi was ok, but if he was in a safe place so she could fight appropriately now.

Temari cracked her knuckles and gave a maniacal laugh.

"Are you ready to do this Sakura?"

Sakura smirked "Hell ya I'm ready. I haven't had a good fight in a long time"

Temari grabbed her fan and swung it around sending a chakra laced wind gust at the enemy nin, cutting him up in the process and knocking him backward through a few trees. Temari ran after him. Sakura quickly jumped off Kaji. Kneeling down in front of the cat, she gave simple instructions.

"Knock him out and take him back to Hidenka. We are going to need take him back to Ibiki so he needs to be alive when we get back to Konoha."

Without another word, Kaji was over at the man's side faster than Sakura could comprehend. He was already paralyzed so Kaji simply had to roll him over onto his back and put his paw on the man's neck to cut off his air supply and knock him out without killing him. Sakura didn't stay to watch the rest, she ran to Temari to assist.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she saw the enemy nin had somehow managed to get Temari's fan and currently had her pinned to the ground. Something didn't feel right but she didn't have time to think about it right now. She had to free Temari. Sakura put all chakra into her fist and lunged forward, her eyes finally realized what was wrong. But it was too late. She hit the man, sending him flying. Mid-air there was a poof of smoke and a log hit into a tree, splintering both upon impact. The tree was coming down in her direction, she needed to get Temari out of its path. She picked Temari up bridal style and jumped into the trees, away a few yards. Temari smiled as Sakura put her hands to Temari's head, letting healing chakra flow into her. Sakura healed her enough to continue, but they didn't have time to do much else.

"You have a concussion. Be careful."

Sakura jumped down to the forest floor. The enemy was nowhere in site. She closed her eyes, focusing to find his chakra signature.

'Two faint signatures near Hidenka. That's Kakashi and the other guy. Temari is above me….There he is!'

Sakura opened her eyes and ran as fast as she could, he was heading near her cats and Kakashi. She had to get there before that happened. She pushed more chakra into her feet (making small craters in the ground where ever her feet touched) in hopes of moving faster, if that was even humanly possible. She finally arrived into the clearing to see the enemy battling Kaji and Shi. Hidenka was standing over Kakashi and the unconscious man with her ears back, growling, ready to fight at a moment's notice. The enemy nin slashed his sword towards Shi, catching her on her hind leg.

Sakura cried out in anger.

"DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING TOUCH MY FAMILY! I'LL KILL YOU!"

The man smirked, finally seeing what got under Sakura's skin. He moved to stab Kaji, seeing earlier how close Sakura was to him. Sakura moved faster than she ever thought possible. Faster than the blink of the eye she was in front of Kaji, a sword through her stomach and her fist through the man's chest. His eyes were wide with surprise and grunted with the sudden pain. He coughed blood up and it splattered on her face. He stumbled back, pulling the sword from Sakura. Sakura fell to her knees.

"SAKURA!" Hidenka yelled. Kaji and Shi ran over to her. Hidenka wouldn't dare move from her spot over top of Kakashi, she promised her cub she would protect him. She couldn't stop now. "Shi, bring her over." Hidenka commanded frantically. Shi complied, gently dragging Sakura over.

Sakura looked up at Hidenka with scared eyes. "Sakura, you need to summon your tattoos back to you"

"But Kakas-" Sakura coughed up blood.

"You cant help him if your dead. Now hurry, he is slipping fast" Hidenka said gruffly.

Sakura did what she was told, letting her tattoos come back to her and attach themselves to the puncture.

Hidenka looked up at Kaji who was still over by the enemy nin. "Finish him"

With that one simple command, Kaji nodded. Hidenka wasn't sure if the man could survive a blow like that with out treatment, he was missing a good portion of his chest due to Sakura's chakra enhanced punch. But she didn't want to risk it. Kaji pinned the man down and went for his neck, tearing it apart with one bite. The man screamed and then there was bloody gurgles.

Temari finally arrived at the scene. Eyes wide with terror. "SAKURA!" She ran to her friend, cradling Sakura's head in her lap. Sakura smirked a little but didn't want to force her voice. So she reached for Temari's hand, gripping it tight.

"Temari" Hidenka said trying to catch her attention. "We need to get Kakashi and Sakura out of here. Sakura has rope for harnesses in her pack, we can use that to carry them if you put some tree branches together for two make-shift litters. One for me and Kaji to bridge over our backs for Sakura and Kakashi. And the second for us to drag this man behind us. Now go quickly then you can go ahead on to Konoha to warn them. Sakura used something to call them for back up. I feel a bad presence approaching rapidly. We need to do this now."

Temari nodded and went about her tasks. Once she completed the litters and got Hidenka and Kaji's harnesses, she geared them up, got the litters attached as she was instructed. She lifted Sakura first and laid her down gently. Then she grabbed Kakashi. Sakura held out her arms and Temari laid him down next to her. "Temari…" Sakura said just barely a whisper. Temari took out a kunai and tore open the back of Sakura's shirt, removing it from her body. Once she had it off, Sakura pulled Kakashi close and activated her healing jutsu. Black wings lifted from Sakura's body and wrapped around her and Kakashi, quickly turning green with healing chakra. "Thank you" Sakura closed her eyes and focused on healing.

Temari took chakra restraints out and put them around the enemy nin's arms and legs and then wrapped him in rope. She lifted him and dropped him unceremoniously on to the litter and wrapped more rope around to secure him tightly. Once she was sure everything was set she walked up beside Kaji and leaned over to Sakura's ear "Be safe Sakura. I'll bring help." She then walked to the front of the pair and knelt down in front of Hidenka, bowing respectively. "I know I don't have to tell you to keep them safe. Sakura is like a sister to me….Just please keep them safe, please keep yourselves safe. You are her family, she would be crushed if something were to happen to you." Hidenka nodded "Now go.." And Temari was off into the woods as fast as her legs could take her.

Hidenka nodded to Kaji and they both slowly began to move forward. The other cats surrounded them as they began, keeping Sakura safe from all sides. "We are beginning our journey Sakura. It may be a bit bumpy but we will try to keep it as painless as we can. If you need us to stop just let me know and we'll take a break." They started to pick up the pace before Sakura could respond.

"Please just get him to Konoha. He's just barely hanging on. I can't lose him. If it's painful, it's painful. Just do it." Sakura put her cheek on top of Kakashi's head. She ran one hand into his hair to hold his head to her, the other around his shoulder. She wrapped a leg around his middle and held him tighter to try to protect him from the rough journey ahead.

Hidenka didn't respond. Her and Kaji rapidly increase their speed, disappearing into the forest. She glanced back at Sakura holding Kakashi to her. 'She has grown so much since the first day she summoned me. She risked her life for this man and us. She always calls us her family…I just thought it was a silly human thing. But I understand now…we are her pack. She belongs with us…..with him. I've been too hard on her.'

"She really is something else Kaji."

"Yes she is…yes she is."


	8. Chapter 8

*****Thank you for the reviews! It's my first story so I'm glad to think people actually enjoy reading it. I know my structure could use improvement, but like I said. I am new; I'll get better as I go. So please feel free to continue the constructive criticism.**

**I don't own Naruto**

They were running at break-neck speeds. The make-shift litters tossing around with their body movement and the terrain. They had been running for hours. She could tell her pack was getting tired, but she had to continue to push them. She had to get her cub to safety. Then she heard someone gasp.

"Sakura!" Shi yelled.

Hidenka looked back to see Sakura's jutsu had been deactivated and she had her head to Kakashi's chest. She looked to Kaji who nodded, they both slowed their pace. Sakura looked so pale.

Suddenly Sakura pulled her head away with a shocked look. She brought a hand up to Kakashi's neck. She quickly pushed Kakashi from her side screaming,

" NO NO NO NO! KAKASHI! STAY WITH ME KAKASHI!"

The cats came to a complete stop. Hidenka turned back slightly, as to not dislodge the litter, and saw Sakura fumbling to get on top of Kakashi. She felt it too, he was slipping. She knew Sakura was devastated, but she wouldn't be any good like this.

"Sakura!" Hidenka said firmly. Everyone, including Sakura looked at her.

"Sakura take a moment, take a breath, and collect your thoughts." she said in a motherly tone.

Sakura did what she was told. She nodded, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out. She opened her eyes, looked down at Kakashi. She put her hands to Kakashi's chest and let her chakra flow into Kakashi. 'Even after healing him for that long, his body is giving out from all of the trauma...'

"He's dying..." Sakura stated very matter of factly, more to herself than to anyone else.

"So what are you going to do?" Kaji asked.

Sakura started thrusting her palms into his chest to keep his heart going. But it was no use. She put two fingers to his neck again and his pulse was completely gone.

"His heart stopped" Sakura said with a shaky voice as she started to cry.

"Sakura" Hidenka's call went unanswered, she instead heard sobs

"SAKURA!" she said in a very harsh tone. Sakura's eyes shot up at her with a questioning look, tears rolling down her face. "What are you waiting for?" Hidenka asked.

"He's gone. There's nothing left I can do. I'm still too weak to help my team." Sakura sobbed.

"You're too weak? Or you just don't know the answer?" with that, Sakura gave Hidenka a very curious look. "Think hard child. Death would never have stopped the Sakura I started training with. There is a way, you just don't know how yet. So think!" Hidenka demanded.

Sakura sat back thinking about the heart. 'What makes it run? What makes it hurt? Has her heart ever hurt? …...YES! One time during a spar Kakashi accidentally hit her in the arm with his Chidori and her chest hurt really badly. Her heart beat wasn't normal for a few hours. Her muscles ached!'

Sakura closed her eyes and focused her chakra into her hands. She was not good at electric type jutsus. She was an earth type. But she had to try. She recalled back to when Kakashi was training Sasuke to use Chidori. 'Don't try to control the chakra. Just get it to your hand and let it go crazy. Pull it in different directions.' This went against everything Sakura trained to do…but she still had to try.

She opened her eyes looking to Hidenka, her pride mother, with pleading eyes. Unsure if this was ok to do. This could seriously injure herself, Kakashi, Hidenka and Kaji. Hidenka looked at Sakura, seeing the tears still falling, looking so unsure of herself. She could tell Sakura was scared to hurt them. Hidenka gave Sakura a simple nod of approval.

With Hidenka's approval Sakura tried hard to pull the chakra around. She could feel the chakra burn. She needed to do this quick; her chakra was already so depleted. She lifted her shirt slightly to reveal one last tattoo with a seal around it. She pressed her fingers into it and activated the seal, releasing the chakra she stored. All of it. All at once. It rushed to her hand. It gave her the imbalance she needed to what she needed. Her hand was crackling with the electricity of the chakra.

She slammed the heel of her hand onto Kakashi's chest over his heart and pushed the electrified chakra into his heart. His entire body jolted stiff and then fell back into its lifeless position. Sakura raised her hand to his neck once more and pushed her fingers onto his vein. She didn't feel anything. She lowered her head to his chest and didn't hear anything.

Sakura took a deep breath, her hand glowing in crackling chakra once more. Slamming her hand down on his chest, she collapsed on top of him in exhaustion. That's when she heard it…. Thump thump….thump thump. Sakura let out a choked laugh. Sobbing she pulled him close.

Hidenka let out a breath she never knew she was holding. She knew Sakura must be exhausted. "Shi, get Sakura her pack please. She is going to pass out any moment. She needs to take her pills." Shi quickly retrieved the pack placing it next to Sakura, nudging her arms with his nose. Sakura looked up, eyes red and swollen and smiled at Shi saying a quiet thank you. She reached into her pack to get her chakra regeneration pills. She struggled with the bottle, her hands having severe chakra burns. Looking at Kakashi's chest, you could see he was badly burned as well. 'At least he's still alive.' Sakura reassured herself.

"Sakura, sleep now. Koneko will keep watch." Kaji said softly. He saw Sakura nod in agreement as she pulled Kakashi close to her. Koneko was his and Hidenka's cub. Koneko was an energetic cub, but was very protective of Sakura who he saw as his sister. Koneko jumped up on the litter, laying himself across Sakura and Kakashi.

"I know you are all tired, we have been running at a fast pace for quite some time. But we must keep moving. I feel Temari's chakra heading back this way with others, probably reinforcements from Konoha. But I also feel a very dark, sinister chakra coming towards us from the way we came. So please, for Sakura, please let's keep going." Kaji pleaded with his nin-cat pride. They all nodded. "Let's go."

They began running again, as fast as their tired legs would take them. Hidenka just hoped they'd make it back in time to protect her pride from whatever that chakra was. She certainly didn't like it.


	9. Chapter 9

He heard mumbling. It annoyed him; he felt so tired and just wanted to stay sleeping. But that stupid mumbling wouldn't allow it anymore. As he woke up a bit more he could feel the level of soreness of his body. To top it off there was an excruciating pain on his chest. It felt like a burn. A pretty bad one at that. He felt something lying on top of him. He opened his eyes but couldn't see anything. His vision was blocked.

"Hidenka, we can't keep going like this. Everyone is beyond exhausted. We've been running for a day and a half non-stop. Temari should be close, I can feel it." Kakashi heard someone say. He decided to remain 'sleeping' a bit longer to hear what was going on. If they are with Temari, they aren't enemies.

"I know….I just….I want to get her some place safe Kaji. She is our cub!" He heard a female yell franticly. 'I wonder who is in trouble. And why am I with them?'

Kakashi began to think. '…..I was on a mission….think think think…I was ambushed by Sasuke's team! I was able to get away when I ran into 2 enemy nin. I was already exhausted at that point; I had used my eye to much. I was losing the battle…but I don't remember what happened after that'

"Sakura will be fine. She pushed herself a bit too far but she'll be fine. Sh-" Kakashi didn't hear the rest of the sentence. His body jerked at hearing Sakura's name. He felt the weight on top of him shift and he opened his eyes to see who was on him, only to see a big black nose and 2 bright blue eyes observing him. He was surprised but didn't jump. He was a trained shinobi after all. And this was obviously a summons, like his nin-dogs.

"Mama, the grey haired man is awake." The young cub said, touching his nose to Kakashi's nose. Hidenka glanced back. "Please don't move yet. Let us find cover first, and then we'll help you up. And Koneko, stop staring at the man like you are going to eat him. I don't think Sakura would much appreciate it." Kakashi saw the cub look over next to him with sad eyes.

Kakashi looked to where the cub was looking and saw pink hair. He tried to move but couldn't. Something was holding him still. "Please don't move mister. You might hurt Sakura." Kakashi froze. He looked back to the cub, which was now looking at him with curious eyes.

"Why do you have grey hair?" Koneko asked. "It's silver." Kakashi said. His throat felt dry and raspy. "What's the difference?" Koneko pressed on with his questions. "Old people have grey hair. I was born with hair this color." Kakashi stated just slightly above a whisper. He saw the cubs eyes brighten "Like Sakura was born with pink hair?" the cub stated excitedly. "Yes, just like that." Kakashi smiled.

After a few moments of silence, the cub began again "Sakura was really worried about you mister. You must be someone important." Kakashi was confused. How did Sakura fit into all this? And why was she sleeping next to him? And why was there a large feline cub on top of him?

"Are you ok mister?" the cub asked, once again pressing his nose to Kakashi's. "Kakashi, my name is Kakashi." "My name is Koneko!" the cub said loudly, wincing once he realized what he had just done. He opened one eye, looking towards Sakura to see if he had woken her with his outburst. When he saw she was still unconscious, he sighed in relief. "Koneko, is Sakura ok?" Kakashi asked hesitantly.

He saw the sad look in the cub's eyes and he answered "I don't know…..she won't wake up. She used too much chakra on her jutsu and you. Mama said she was injured badly. I didn't get to talk to her, I was just told to watch you two while she was sleeping." This made Kakashi's chest tighten.

Kakashi felt them come to a stop. He heard the female yell out a few orders and then he felt whatever he was laying on lower to the ground. Koneko moved off of him and Kakashi felt the cub's nose trying to remove whatever was holding him tightly. The object was moved enough for him to see it was Sakura's arm that was holding him. Then he caught sight of the burns on her hands and fingers still bleeding. When Koneko got Sakura rolled onto her back, releasing Kakashi. Kakashi moved to sit up but Koneko put his paw on his shoulder, holding him down.

"Don't get up yet. You're still hurt. Daddy will help you up so you don't hurt yourself or Sakura." Koneko said plainly. Kakashi looked over at Sakura. She looked beat up, exhausted and covered in blood. Which he could guess wasn't all hers. He saw 4 huge black feet walk past him. He looked up to see the biggest black leopard he has ever seen. The two observed each other. Finally Kaji broke the silence.

"Kakashi, my name is Kaji. I am the alpha male of our pride, and Sakura's battle companion. I will fill you in on the details of what happened once we get you sitting up. I am going to lean over you, simply grab the harness around my neck and I will slowly pull you into a sitting position. Hidenka will grab on to your cloths and will help me get you back to the tree behind you." Kakashi simply nodded dumbfounded. 'Where did Sakura find a huge black leopard to follow her around? They are clearly nin-cats and should be someone summons. Had someone used their summons to help get Sakura to safety?'

He had reached around Kaji's neck and grabbed the harness as instructed. Kaji started to back up slowly as Kakashi sat up. Hidenka came from behind, grabbing his vest, and drug him to the tree. He rested against it. The pain was tolerable. He looked down at his chest and saw a hole burned through his shirt. His skin was burned and bleeding. No wonder he felt the pain earlier. It was pretty bad.

He observed a large snow leopard sit in front of him next to Kaji. The female cat was a little smaller but no less intimidating. "Shi, please give Kakashi Sakura's pack so he can do something with that burn." The female ordered. A lioness grabbed Sakura's pack and dropped it in Kakashi's lap. He opened it looking for the supplies he needed to dress the wound.

"Kakashi, my name is Hidenka. I am the pride leader. We will fill you in on what we can. I wasn't at the battle so Kaji will fill you in on that part." Kakashi listened closely as the cats detailed the battle. It sounded like he had been in bad shape.

Hidenka was finishing up the story of events. "Then your heart had stopped. And Sakura used a technique I have never seen to bring you back. It was like she was holding lightning in her hand. She slammed it into your chest two times before she collapsed from chakra exhaustion. She got your heart started again but you both were badly burned in the process."

"So she is ok?" Kakashi asked. "She hasn't woken up since then. She took chakra regeneration pills and passed out soon after. She just needs rest. She has pushed herself past her limits while training with me before. It takes time to recover."

"I can't believe she has grown so much since she left 3 years ago." Kakashi said, almost not believing what he had just heard. Sakura had new jutsus that would change the medic nin world. And she could summon these powerful felines. She obviously had earned their respect during this battle.

"She and Naruto talked about you often during our training Kakashi. She has never stopped trying to catch up to you boys since she left." Hidenka looked at him with a seriousness that made him nervous.

"She never had to catch up. She was on her own level. She was an important part of our team. I would have died long ago without her." Kakashi stated trying to argue.

"She never felt that way though." Kaji jumped in on the conversation. "She said you were always gone and avoided her. And Naruto was always off training. She felt left behind. I have never seen her happier than when Naruto came to train her on how to summon us. No matter what you think about what actually had happened in your eyes, this is the way she saw it in her heart. She really cares about you Kakashi. We all saw it during the battle and when she was healing you."

Kakashi was silent for a few moments before replying "I really care about her too. More than I ever let her know. More than I ever wanted to admit to myself." There was another long silence before Kakashi started to move. He crawled over to Sakura, dragging the pack with him. "I need to dress her burns so they don't get infected."

Kaji nodded "We are going to rest for a while. Take your time. If you need us, we'll just be a short distance away."

Kakashi took the supplies out of the pack and started cleaning the burns. He put Sakura's burn cream on them and wrapped her hands up to her wrists. He looked at her, brushing some of her hair out of her face. 'She really has grown up.' He leaned down, slipping his mask off his face and kissed her on the forehead. 'Things will be different. I promise.'

That's when he felt it. He looked up, over to Kaji who nodded in confirmation that someone was coming. And it wasn't someone they wanted to run into. He slid himself and Sakura farther underneath the bushes. Koneko ran over to them sitting in front of Kakashi guarding them from any danger. Kakashi reached forward and firmly placed his hand on Koneko's back. Koneko in turn wrapped his tail around Kakashi's arm. In a mutual 'thank you for protecting Sakura'.


	10. Chapter 10

"Come out, come out where ever you are…." They heard a menacing laugh. "I know you're here somewhere Kakashi. I can feel your chakra. Though I am surprised you made it out of that battle alive."

Kakashi knew that voice. He'd recognize it anywhere. He tapped Koneko on the shoulder. The cub looked at him and Kakashi motioned him closer. When the cub was close enough Kakashi whispered "Whatever you do, don't look into his eyes. He is Sasuke Uchiha, he can put anyone under the worst of genjutsu by just looking into his eyes."

Koneko nodded and quietly got up. He walked over to his mom silently, informing her of this new information. Hidenka looked right at Kakashi and nodded. She sent a few other of the pride back over with Koneko. Kakashi was confused. Surely him and Koneko were enough to protect her, even though he was still injured. They'd at least be able to hold Sasuke back until reinforcements came.

He looked at Koneko questioningly. The cub bent down, whispering by Kakashi's ear. "Sakura told us about Sasuke and how he was part of her old team. She wanted us to be prepared if she ever ran into him and needed our assistance. Sakura didn't train this part of the pride against the Sharingan. She only trained Mama, Daddy and Aunt Shi." Kakashi nodded. He wasn't quite sure how you could really train against the Sharingan. But if anyone could find a way it would be Sakura.

They all heard it. Rustling on the forest floor. It was getting closer. Hidenka, Kaji and Shi all had their ears back. But surprising to Kakashi, they had all sat down and closed their eyes. Their faces looked calm, almost peaceful. Similar to when Naruto is going into sage mode.

Suddenly Sasuke was visible in the clearing ahead of the bushes. It has been quite some time since Kakashi had seen him. He's gotten quite tall and his body was lean. He looked back to his new group of friends, but noticed that the 3 pack leaders already had their attention turned to Sasuke. Even with their eyes closed.

Sasuke took a couple steps closer, and then he activated his Sharingan. His quickly changed. He was oozing killer intent. His chakra was heavy, it made Kakashi feel like it was hard to breathe. Sasuke let out a burst of chakra. Kakashi felt Sakura's body stiffen in response. He looked down to see her eyes open. She was looking straight at him. She reached up with her bandaged hand. He grabbed it and gave it a very small squeeze as not to hurt her. A tear rolled down her face. He quickly reached over and wiped it away. She squeezed his hand back.

She quickly realized what woke her up. She could recognize Sasuke Uchiha's foul chakra anywhere. She sat up much to Kakashi's discontent. Before he could express his want of her not to move she was up and over by her pride leaders. She knelt down in front of Hidenka and gave a small bow. Kaji was the first to her, nuzzling his face to hers, resting his head on her shoulder. Shi followed suit. Kaji and Shi both made room as Hidenka inched a little closer. Sakura looked up at her. Hidenka put her paw up on Sakura's shoulder and Sakura bowed. When Sakura sat back up Hidenka nuzzled her face to everyone's surprise. Hidenka wasn't one to show affection. Sakura's arms flew around the cat in an embrace that made the pride leader smile.

They let go of each other quickly and looked towards the clearing as Sasuke let out another burst of chakra. They both closed their eyes. Sakura opened hers back up, looking towards Kakashi. He noticed her eyes were slightly different. He nodded, indicating he understood what was happening. She crawled back over to Kakashi with such stealth. He never heard any noise. He never remembered her being this stealthy before. It was always something she wasn't good it.

They looked at each other for a moment. Kakashi wished at that moment he could read minds. So much emotion was running through Sakura's eyes. Hate, compassion, disappointment, fright, fierceness, determination, and want. What she wanted, he had no idea. She leaned in until her nose was caressing his temple and her hand was tangled in his hair. She pressed his head softly against hers.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, but I am not strong enough to fight this fight.I can't let you fight either. You are still too injured." She said whispering so softly he could barely hear her.

She pulled away from him, not moving her hand from his hair. He missed her warmth already. She looked at him with such sadness. He wanted to yell at her for looking that way. She hadn't let him down. She did so much for him already.

He was about to say something but she cut him off "It's probably against the rules. I've been thinking about it since I heard you were missing…" there was a long silence. "What are you saying Sakura." Kakashi didn't understand. What 'it' had she been thinking about.

Sakura closed her eyes from a moment and took a deep breath in. When she opened her eyes she inched closer to Kakashi, her fingers still tangled in his hair.

"I don't know what I'm saying Kakashi. I don't know if its love. I don't know if its lust. I don't know if it's a stupid childish crush. But I feel something for you. You mean to much to me for me to let you fight him. I almost lost you…I can't let that happen again."

Kakashi felt relief flood over him. 'She feels it too' He has felt it for a while now. But he was too embarrassed to say anything. He looked at her, tears almost spilling out of her beautiful eyes. He saw her take a deep breath and she spoke again. "You may not feel the same way Kakashi, and that's ok. I just wanted to tell yo-" With that he closed the small distance between them. 'Don't you dare think that Sakura.' He thought as his masked lips crashed against her naked ones. She was surprised at first. She almost pulled away. Kakashi brought his hand up to her hair, much like hers was, and pressed her deeper into the kiss. She finally relaxed and started to kiss him back. He let go of her hair for a short second and pulled down his mask. Sakura's eyes shot open as she felt his bare lips on hers. He chuckled softly and leaned back a little so she could see his face. She was stunned. He didn't have buck teeth or big fish lips. Nor was he horribly disfigured like they all had imagined as kids.

She leaned forward kissing him once more. "I'm sorry" She stated. Her eyes filled with sadness once more. She stood up before he could say anything and bolted into the clearing, Kaji was right behind her. "SAKURA!" He yelled at her. She was already gone.

Sasuke dodged at the last second. He saw pink and smiled. He went for her with a kunai but she easily dodged. "Sakura, what a surprise. Where is Kakashi." Sasuke said with fake happiness. "You can't have him Sasuke. Turn around and leave before I kill you." Sakura said growling through her teeth.

Sasuke howled out a laugh "You...kill me...HA! Has the desert damaged your brain Sakura?"

Sakura had enough talk. She launched herself at him. They exchanged a few blows. Sakura was keeping up to him. Her training had paid off. But she was still low on chakra. She couldn't keep going like this forever. Especially with her jutsu activated. She could see his fast movements and block all of his advances.

Sasuke was getting fed up with this game. He started making hand signs. Sakura stopped and mimicked the signs. Her eyes catching everything he was doing. " FIRE STYLE FIRE STORM JUTSU!" They both screamed at the same time. Kaji jumped out of the way as the two walls of fire hit each other.

Sasuke stood stunned. 'Sakura doesn't have the Sharingan. How did she do that?' Sakura took the opportunity while Sasuke was lost in thought to land a chakra enhanced punch to the stomach. He flew backwards into and through a few trees. He struggled to regain his footing. Sakura stumbled. She just used the little chakra she had to distract him. She felt Temari was close.

She heard Sasuke yell "CHIDORI" But she didn't have enough strength to move. She could feel him getting closer. She braced for the impact she knew was coming. Kaji was dragging her away trying to avoid the hit "Goodbye Kakashi" She whispered to herself and closed her eyes.

It never came. She opened her eyes to see orange pants. "Naruto" Sakura said just above a whisper. She closed her eyes again. She was so tired. "Kaji get Sakura out of here!" Naruto yelled.

That was the last thing Sakura remembered before blacking out.


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Naruto.**

Kaji dragged her into the bushes. Kakashi was immediately at her side. "SAKURA!" Kakashi yelled as he helped Kaji get her to cover. He didn't know any medical techniques. He knew how to check for a pulse, he knew how to check her breathing, and he knew how to stabilize minor wounds… but that was the extent of his knowledge. They laid her down and Kakashi his head to her chest. He heard her breathing and he heard her heart. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Sakura….. Sakura can you hear me?" He began shaking her softly. Koneko walked up beside Kakashi and sat beside Sakura's head. He leaned his head down, met Sakura's nose with his own and closed his eyes. Kakashi moved back slightly. He wasn't sure what the cub was doing but he didn't want to interfere.

After a few moments, Koneko looked up to Kakashi. He could see the worry in Kakashi's eyes. "She's fine. There are no major injuries. She has a few bad bruises and a fractured rib. But mostly it's chakra exhaustion." Koneko looked down at Sakura's pale face. "She started teaching me how to use my chakra for healing. I felt so useless and left out because I wasn't allowed to train with the rest of the pride. They all said I was too young and I'd just get in the way…. But when Naruto trained Sakura with us, she never left me out. She said she used to feel the same way when she went on missions with her team. She wanted me to be more prepared than she was for her first fight. So she taught me to do things with chakra that didn't involve me fighting. She wanted me to be an important part of the team even though she didn't want me fighting… That's why I was laying on top of you when you woke up. I was keeping a close watch on your pulse and chakra signals while Sakura was sleeping." The cub remenised sadly.

"She saw something special in you Koneko. And I see it too. Don't think less of yourself because you can't fight yet. An important part of being a medic is not only healing an injured team mate, but being able to defend them in battle in needed. Sakura will train you how to fight and defend the proper way when the time comes. But I'm sure she' s just waiting until you get a little farther in your training. She went through the same thing with her mentor." Kakashi patted him reassuringly on the head.

Kaji smiled at the scene in front of him. Kakashi would be a great mate for Sakura. He find in just fine with their pride. He watched Kakashi stand up and walk over to Hidenka. He dropped to one knee in front of her.

"Hidenka, I would like your permission to summon my pack of nin-dogs. I understand that cats and dogs don't typically mix well, but I don't believe my pack will pose a problem. They are trained well. I would like to use Kaji to get Sakura out of this area and out of danger. She needs to get back to Konoha. Your pride is stronger, so you can stay and help fight with Naruto and the Leaf ninjas. My pack could escort me, Kaji, and Sakura back to the village safely." Kakashi said, bowing his head respectively as he had seen Sakura do. This was not the time to upset the large cat.

Hidenka observed him and smiled. She brought up massive paw up to Kakashi's shoulder. "Very well Kakashi. But please at least take Shi with you to help defend Sakura should you run into trouble. You could also leave one of your canines here. We need to start integrating your pack with my pride if we are to be a team going forward." Kakashi smiled. He recognized the invitation to be part of her team.

He brought his hand up to her shoulder, mimicking her. "I'd like that." He smiled "I'll summon them now. I'll get Sakura and Kaji ready. You can decide who is going where with the summons. I would like Koneko to go with me, to get him away from here. Sasuke is very dangerous." Kakashi said, letting his arm drop back to his side as he made the signs needed to summon his pack. Hidenka nodded her agreement.

Kakashi's pack appeared. "Pakkun, this is Hidenka. We are in some trouble. I need to get Sakura back to the village. Naruto is fighting Sasuke. I need you and the pack to integrate with Sakura's summon pride and figure out a plan while I get her ready to get out of here." Kakashi said in a commanding tone.

Pakkun tilted his head to the side. "When did Sakura learn how to summon?" Kakashi patted him on the head and stood up "When we weren't looking apparently." Kakashi chuckled as he walked away towards Kaji.

He knelt down "Koneko, over here." Kakashi called to the cub. Koneko trotted over to Kakashi and Kaji. "Alright, here's the plan. Kaji, somehow I need you to carry Sakura." "If you use the battle harness, you can ride on my back and hold her. It would be faster since your still injured." Kakashi nodded his agreement.

He turned to Koneko. "Koneko, I need you to listen close ok." The cub nodded quickly "Kaji and I are going to get Sakura back to our village. Some of your pride and some of my pack are going to escort us and make sure we make it safely. I need you do to a very important job ok? No one else is capable of doing it but you." Koneko looked at him with such interest. "I need you to use the skills you learned from your training with Sakura during our trip back. You need to keep an eye on Sakura's chakra on the way. So you are going to keep up with Kaji ok? Can you do that?"

The cub smiled. "Yes Kakashi. I can do all of those things." Kakashi put his hand on the cubs head and mussed his hair. "Great! I knew you could do it."

Kakashi got Kaji's battle harness tightened down. He lifted Sakura on to Kaji and then got on, holding her close to him.

"Kakashi, we are ready." Kakashi looked back to see a mix of his pack and Sakura's pride. He nodded "Alright. Take your positions and lets head out." Shi commanded the group.

The group broke out into a run. Konoha wasn't too far away. They just had to make it to the gates and Tsunade would be able to help Sakura.

Kakashi gave her a squeeze. "We're almost there Sakura. We're almost home." He leaned down and kissed her forehead.


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Naruto.**

Kakashi was tired. They had been running hard for a little over a day. He had to hold on to Kaji and keep Sakura's deadweight stable. Not that Sakura weighed a lot, but at the speeds they were traveling, it took ever muscle in his body to keep them both upright and steady on top of Kaji. He could see the team was wearing down.

His pack had become exhausted hours ago. They had only stopped for a short rest two times to let the team catch their breath and get hydrated. He could tell his pack was beyond exhausted. Sakura's pride had such a high speed; they had a hard time keeping up. But he knew that her pride was holding back so she didn't get hurt. He couldn't imagine the speeds they had when they weren't limited. 'We'll have to work on that.' Kakashi thought to himself

He knew they were close to the village. He looked to his left and spotted the lioness he needed. "Shi, Bisuke." He spoke loudly.

Shi veered over towards him, never stopping or slowing. "Yes Kakashi."

"We are almost to the village. Take Bisuke and move ahead to warn them we are almost there. You are going to have to carry him; I don't think he can keep up with you. Bisuke, I need you to tell the ninja on watch at the gate to get the Hokage, Shizune, Sai and Ibiki right away." Kakashi ordered

They didn't need to confirm agreement. Bisuke jumped on Shi's back and they were off in a flash.

"Kakashi" Koneko said out of breath.

Kakashi looked over at the cub and saw the serious look on his face. He reached back, patting Kaji's side and then held up his arm with a clenched fist as the sign to stop. When they all came to a stop, Kakashi looked over to Koneko.

"*pant pant* her chakra spiked *pant pant*" the cub said completely out of breath. "She should be waking up shortly. *pant pant*" He took a moment to take a deep breath before continuing. "I think we should take this chance to rest for a few minutes and let her wake up." He said, looking straight at Kakashi with such confidence.

"We need to get her back to the village Koneko! We shouldn't stop now when we are so close to help!" One of the pride yelled. Others nodded and grumbled their agreement.

Kakashi saw the disappointment cross the cub's eyes. "No, Koneko is the only one here with at least a little medic training. If he says this is what's best, then I trust him. I know Sakura would. I want to hear what he has to say." Kakashi looked back to Koneko for him to offer an explanation.

"Sakura taught me that even though the patient can be healed and well, when they wake up they can pose a threat to themselves and others around them if they are scared and unsure of where they're at. Especially when they are a ninja with the strength Sakura has. I think we just need to give her the chance to remember what happened and remember where she is. If we don't, she could think she was kidnapped or something and attack Kakashi or Daddy on accident."

"Alright, we'll stop. Long enough for her to get her bearings. Then we'll keep moving." Kakashi said, swinging his leg off Kaji, lifting Sakura off with him. He laid her on the ground gently and grabbed the container of water they filled the last time they stopped. He held on to her still bandaged hand. 'Hopefully she'll recognize my chakra.'

"Her chakra spiked again." Koneko said "She should be awake any second now." He started to move closer, sitting down next to Kakashi so Sakura could see two friendly faces as she awoke.

Her eye lids fluttered open. She was disoriented at first. Kakashi felt her charka reach out to his where their hands met. Suddenly she clenched his hand tightly, almost breaking bones. "Sakura, it's me, Kakashi. Clam down, you have to calm down." Sakura loosened her grip. Kakashi leaned over her a little to grab her attention.

She saw him. She flashed as big of a smile she could manage at that point "Kashi" she whispered. He was ok, and she was so relieved. She couldn't remember what happened. 'I woke up and Kakashi was there. Sasuke was really close. I….I confessed my feelings to Kakashi and he….he kissed me.' Her face heated with a very deep blush. She heard Kakashi chuckle. 'I remember fighting Sasuke…but….OH NO!' Her eyes snapped wide open and she sat straight up "NARUTO!"

Kakashi pulled her to his chest. "Sakura it's ok. He's going to be fine. We are right outside the village. I need you to calm down so we can get you to Lady Hokage." He said sternly but softly.

"Sakura, please take a couple deep breaths and relax. Your heart rate is too fast." Koneko said as he pushed his nose to her arm. Sakura looked over at the cub, eye brows furrowed.

Her eyes finally met his, the haze of confusion gone. She looked around to see an odd mixture of his pack and her pride sitting around them, watching her closely. She turned back to him, putting her bandaged hand on his cheek.

"Kakashi…" She paused, tears filling her eyes. She launched herself at him into a grizzly strength hug. "I'm so glad you're ok." She finished with a sob.

He almost fell backwards with the sudden shifting of her weight. He rubbed her back gently. He lifted her up on her feet and gently helped her stand. He let her get steady before holding her out at arms-length. She was dirty, bruised, her hair was a messy and knotted, her hands were bandaged and her cloths torn. But she had never looked so beautiful to him. She started fidgeting under his intense staring.

"Kakashi?" She asked. She was unsure what was wrong. Why was he staring at her?

He squeezed her shoulders "We need to get you back to the Hokage Sakura. You have pretty bad chakra burn on your hands and I'm worried about permanent damage to the chakra channels. Koneko said you still have a few injuries." He handed her the water in his hand. "Drink this, I haven't been able to get you to drink much while you were out cold."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "I'm a medic Kakashi, I can heal it myself." She crossed her arms roughly and winced a little from the pain.

Kakashi chuckled at the pout she put on her face he ruffled her hair like it used to when she was little. "I know you are a perfectly capable medic ninja Sakura, but the last thing you need to do is use what little bit of chakra you have gained back. You'll just pass out again." She finally grabbed the water from him as he walked past her towards Kaji.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled at him, jogging after him. "Where's Hidenka?"

"Her and Pakkun stayed back to help Naruto and the rest of the backup battle Sasuke." Kakashi replied, not turning to her. He started gathering their stuff back up into his pack.

'WHAT!' she thought to herself. "Kakashi we need to go back there!" She ran over to him.

He didn't answer her. He started securing her pack on Kaji.

"Kakashi Hatake. We NEED to go back there and make sure Hidenka is al-" She was interrupted.

"Mommy gave us orders to get you back to your village to safety. You are going back to the village whether you like it or not. Mommy can take care of herself." Koneko said as he stood between her and Kakashi.

"Koneko is right Sakura, we need to get you back. Kakashi said the village is just a little ways ahead. With you awake we can go full speed. Shi and a pup went ahead to warn the village of our return." Kaji said in a very commanding voice.

"But Kaj-" Sakura tried to argue.

"Enough." Kaji said loudly. Sakura cringed at the reprimand. "I know you are concerned but we need to move on as instructed. If we go back now with how tired we are and how injured some of us are, we will be a hinderance."

"Is everyone ready?" Kakashi looked around to all the nodding heads "Alright, let's move out. Sakura, you're with me." He motioned to her to get on Kaji.

She took a final look back at the direction they came saying a silent prayer that her pride leader was alright. She quickly got on Kaji, giving him a quick scruff on the neck. Kakashi climbed on behind her. When he was ready, he gave Kaji a quick pat on the rear and they were off.

The village only a short distance away. They weren't going to waste any more time, they went full speed.

Kakashi reached up and put his arm around Sakura's middle, pulling her plush to his chest. He nuzzled his nose against her ear and brought his lips to her neck. She brought a hand to his and intertwined their fingers the best she could without causing her severly burned hands to much pain.

What would happen when they got there? Does Kakashi really like her? Or was his kiss just an 'in the moment' thing?


	13. Chapter 13

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

Kakashi could see the main gate in the distance. Kakashi made a clicking noise which signaled his pack to bark, hoping to let anyone know up ahead that they were nearly there. As his pack started barking, Sakura's pride began to roar. Sakura gave Kakashi's hand a small squeeze as they could hear Shi and Bisuke loudly barking and roaring in response. She was getting nervous. She hadn't been home in such a long time.

Tsunade and Shizune were enjoying lunch when they heard a commotion outside her office doors. Suddenly Genma busted into the office slightly out of breath. He was immediately followed by a dog…..sitting on top of a lioness….'WHAT THE HELL!' Tsunade thought to herself. She recognized the pup as one of Kakashi's Ninken. Both Tsunade and Shizune shot up out of their seats.

"Genma! Where is Kakashi?" Tsunade said sternly.

"We have received word that they are close to the village and on their way. These two can explain farther." Genma said catching his breath.

Bisuke jumped off the lioness and bowed his head slightly in respect to the Hokage. Shi, observing him, did the same. Though she looked a bit awkward while doing it, she had never had to acknowledge anyone but Hidenka.

Tsunade eyed the lioness questioningly.

"Lady Hokage, Kakashi and Sakura will arrive shortly. They needed to stop to care for Sakura. I was asked to request yourself, Shizune, Ibiki and Sai to follow us to the main gate and await for them to arrive." Bisuke addressed the Hokage.

"Are they injured?" Tsunade had mixed feelings. She was very happy that Sakura was coming home, and Kakashi was found. But it sounded as if there were injuries.

"I may be able to explain in more detail Tsunade-sama." The lioness took a step forward and sat in front of the Hokage. She tried to address this woman as remembered Sakura had. She remembered that this person was like a mother to Sakura.

Tsunade knelt down to the oversized lioness and nodded her to continue.

"My name is Shi, I am part of Sakura's pack. Kakashi was quite injured when Sakura found him. It seemed he had battled before and his injuries prevented him from protecting himself properly from another attack. Sakura summoned us at that time. She was able to defeat the enemy and began to heal Kakashi with that technique, as she was very weak. She almost lost Kakashi. I apologize, I don't understand medical techniques like Sakura does, but she was able to bring him back with some sort of lightning from her hands. She then fell into a deep sleep, which Koneko said was from chakra exhaustion. Kakashi came out of his sleep. Sasuke Uchiha caught up with us. Sakura woke up and was able to hold him off until Naruto showed up. At that time Hidenka commanded us to get Sakura and Kakashi back to Konoha, at any cost. Kakashi summoned his pack and we split up. Half our pride and half his pack was left to fight with Naruto, and the other half was sent to escort the two back here. They have one of the enemy Nin with them." Shi felt that was a good enough explanation.

Tsunade, Shizune and Genma stood with their mouths gaping open and their eyes wide in surprise.

"Sakura can summon?" Genma stuttered.

Both Shi and Tsunade glared at him. "How bad are the injuries?" Tsunade asked nervously.

"Your daughter is alive Tsunade-sama. Though there are significant injuries, Kakashi assured me that you could handle it easily. Kakashi is still in rough shape; Sakura burned his chest and broke a few ribs when she was healing him. Sakura also has severe burns on her hands and has a few other minor injuries. Koneko didn't seem to think any were life threatening." Shi spoke with confidence, but Tsunade could see the worry in her eyes.

"I have many questions, but now isn't the time for them. I will send for Ibiki and Sai immediately as requested." Tsunade paused for a second. She wasn't sure who this lioness was. She wasn't sure who Sakura's pride was. But apparently this lioness was part of it. "Thank you Shi, for watching over Sakura while she was away." Tsunade reached over and rubbed the lioness' shoulder, unsure of what to do.

Shi noticed Tsunade's hesitation and brought her paw up to rest on Tsunade's shoulder as if to show her what to do. "She has become strong Tsunade-sama, very strong. She speaks of you often and with high regard."

Tsunade's emotions got the better of her and she hugged the lioness close, scaring Shi slightly.

"I am still not sure I understand this human behavior. But Sakura seems to do it often." Shi nuzzled her head against Tsunade's. The Hokage laughed loudly.

Then both stood up. "Shizune, find Ibiki. Genma, find Sai. Everyone meet back at the main gates immediately to await their arrival!"

And they were off.

Tsunade, Bisuke, and Shi were at the gates waiting. Bisuke was walking quickly back and forth in front of the gate, nervously waiting for Kakashi. Shi, seemingly the complete opposite, sat next to Tsunade quietly with her eyes closed.

Tsunade felt Shi's tail tap the back of her calf. She looked down at the lioness, the touch looked intentional. She raised her eye brow in slight confusion. Not a few seconds later, Shi wrapped her tail around Tsunade's ankle. Tsunade was about to ask what this was all about when she noticed Shizune, Genma, Sai, and Ibiki's chakra signatures right before they showed up. Shi removed her tail when they showed up. Tsunade smirked slightly. She liked this big cat.

"Any sign of them?" Ibiki asked

"Not yet." Tsunade responded

Sai walked over to Shi, placing his hand on her head as he squatted down to greet her.

"Hello Shi." Sai said with a wide creepy-Sai smile.

"Hello Sai. It's been a long time." Shi nuzzled him

"Sai, you knew Sakura could summon?" Tsunade yelled

"You didn't?" Sai asked confused.

"NO!" she shouted

"Oh, well yes I knew. Naruto and I helped train her to do it. That's why we stayed two weeks in Suna. Sakura said she was going to submit a report." He shrugged.

Tsunade pinched her nose in frustration. She felt Shi's tail tap her leg again.

"They are here." Tsunade announced. "I'll get Sakura. Shizune, you check out the summons for injuries. Ibiki, you get the prisoner. Sai, you get Kakashi." Tsunade commanded

"Hai!" They all yelled.

They suddenly all heard barking and very soon after, what sounded like multiple large cats roaring. Bisuke and Shi responded in kind. Very loudly.

All of their eyes were trained on the forest beyond the gate. Suddenly they saw silver and pink….riding on a very large black leopard. 'What's next? ' Tsunade thought to herself. The two ninja were surrounded by a mix of dogs and large cats.

They allowed Sakura and Kakashi to enter through the gate and their 'ride' to slow down before approaching them.

"They are finally home" Tsunade said out loud but to no one in particular.


	14. Chapter 14

There was a swirl of activity around everyone as Tsunade, Shizune, Ibiki and Sai ran forward for fulfill Tsunade's orders. Within a blink of the eye, Ibiki had the enemy nin thrown over his shoulder and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Shizune was quick to look over all of the summons, running a glowing green hand over each inch of every one of them. There were a few injuries that needed addressed.

Tsunade and Sai were quickly at Sakura and Kakashi's side just in time to see Kakashi pull Sakura back snugly against him and whisper something in her ear. Sakura flashed a big smile. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the scene before her.

"Kakashi, Sai is going to get you to the hospital to have your injuries healed. Sakura, you're coming with me." Tsunade said firmly.

Sakura swung her leg over Kaji and stood but quickly fell back against Kaji, using him for balance. Kakashi was on his feet quickly and next to Sakura.

"Are you ok?" Kakashi asked concerned.

Sakura smiled at him. "Ya, I'm just stiff from the ride." She reached for his hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

Tsunade noticed the exchange. She stepped forward and wrapped Sakura's arm around her neck and wrapped her arm around Sakura's middle.

"Alright Sakura, we are going to go to the hospital at get your hands healed first. Shi seemed concerned about permanent damage." Tsunade said in a commanding tone. Sakura nodded her agreement.

Tsunade gave her a quick squeeze. "It's good to have you back."

Sakura looked up with tears in her eyes "I missed you" Tsunade smiled and they were gone.

The only people left at the gate were Sai, Kakashi, Shizune and their summons.

Sai moved to Kakashi to help him but Kakashi quickly shooed him away.

"I'm fine to walk Sai, she healed me days ago." Kakashi said plainly. "Are you going to take them to Inuzuka's clinic?" Kakashi asked turning towards Shizune.

Shizune looked up at the silver haired man "Yes, I can heal their injuries but they will get better treatment at the clinic since that is the Inuzuka's specialty." Shizune paused "Are you sure you're ok Kakashi?" She asked noticing he was staring at the ground where Sakura once stood.

Kakashi looked at Shizune and saw concern written all over her face. "Ya, I'm sure. I'm just worried about her." He said rubbing his hand on his face.

"The statistical possibilities of her pulling through completely healed are substantially higher with Lady Hokage's involvement." Sai said patting Kakashi's shoulder. "While we are waiting however, I have been ordered to get you to the hospital to document your injuries and then to Interrogation to document your capture."

Kakashi knew better than to argue with Sai since it was an order he was sure was directly from Tsunade. Sighing deeply, he nodded. There was nothing he could do to help Sakura right now.

"Let me know immediately if anything happens." Kakashi said to Shizune.

Shizune nodded. "Of course Kakashi."

Kakashi turned, raising his hand to wave goodbye as him and Sai walked towards the hospital.

…

They weren't in any hurry to get to the hospital so they were walking at a leisurely pace. So far, Sai hasn't been much of a conversation. Not that Sai was ever one to talk all that much, but he was still being uncharacteristically quiet, even for himself.

Kakashi looked over at him. He seemed to be concentrating about something.

"Want to talk about it?" Kakashi asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Hm?" Sai suddenly looked up, suddenly out of his daze.

"Nothing. You just look like something is bothering you." Kakashi said looking slightly over to Sai.

"Oh." Sai answered, looking forward.

"We've still got quite a way to walk. If you want to discuss what's on your mind." Kakashi offered

"Yes, I would. But I am unsure how to ask such a question." Sai said with a straight face.

Kakashi laughed softly at this. He missed Sai and his social awkwardness. "You can just say whatever is on your mind Sai, no need for niceties." Kakashi offered his obviously struggling friend.

"Oh ok." Sai paused for a moment before looking over to Kakashi. "What are your intentions with Sakura?"

Kakashi tensed at this forward of a question. He tried to recover quickly and make it look like it didn't affect him, but Sai picks up on everything. "I'm not sure what you mean Sai."

"Kakashi, I am not as oblivious to human interaction as you think. I saw the look you shared with her. I saw the way she held your hand. I saw the way you just twitched when I asked about it. Obviously there is something between you two. How did you put it? No need for niceties?" Sai said matter-of-factly.

Kakashi sighed loudly. "I'm not sure what to say about it yet. We haven't had any time to discuss it. We were in battle, she said she had feelings for me, we kissed….. Then she ran out to battle Sasuke and I haven't been able to discuss anything with her otherwise." Kakashi ran a hand down his face.

Sai suddenly turned directions almost knocking Kakashi over.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks. "Sai the hospital is this way." Kakashi said pointing in the direction they were previously heading.

"I am aware of the direction of our hospital Kakashi. If you don't hurry, you'll be late for your debriefing with Ibiki and you won't be able to be there for Sakura when she gets out her procedure." Sai turned with a big smile on his face.

Kakashi smiled, shook his head slightly, and walked towards Sai, quickening his pace. Sai was getting much better with reading people and their emotions.

…

A door slammed open. Tsunade entered with her arm around Sakura.

"Alright Sakura, you know the drill." Tsunade said while leading her over to the bed. "Sit down and I'll help you get out of your cloths and into a hospital gown. Then I can start looking at the damage to your hands."

Tsunade helped Sakura up on the bed and started cutting off Sakura's cloths as to not move anything that shouldn't be moved yet. A nurse entered with a basin of water and a sponge.

"Let her clean some of the dirt and blood off of you Sakura." Tsunade quickly said before Sakura could object.

Sakura quickly sighed and let the nurse clean her up a little. She winced at some of the movements. Her hands were still quite tender.

While the nurse was doing that, Tsunade made notes of any obvious bruising or tender spots. As the nurse finished up, Tsunade pulled up a seat next to Sakura. She helped Sakura get on her gown and helped her lay down. Sakura held up her hand towards Tsunade, knowing exactly what she wanted. Tsunade took her hand and sat down, beginning to inspect it to see the extent of the damage. There was a lot of scarring that would need cleared up if she ever wished to use those hands for healing again.

"Sakura, Shi told me you used 'lightning from your hands' to heal Kakashi. Can you explain that please?" Tsunade asked quietly.

"His heart stopped. I was unsure of how to help him. So I thought about how the heart works and if there was any time I could remember my heart physically hurting. I recalled a time I was training with Kakashi and I got too close to his Chidori. All of my muscles, including my heart, ached after that. So I concluded that the heart, being like a muscle, could be re-animated with an electric pulse. So I pulled all the chakra I could into my hand, made it as erratic as I could, and slammed it into his chest. After two times, his heart started beating again." Sakura paused for a moment. "Although, I burned his chest pretty good in the process, and my hands as well, I believe we could refine that technique to be a life-saving procedure with little damage."

Tsunade smiled at the girl. " We can definitely look into that farther. But Sakura, what is going on between you and Kakashi?" Tsunade asked, looking up to see a deeply blush creeping onto Sakura's face.

"A…Um….we um…." Sakura was stuttering out.

"It's ok Sakura. You're an adult, you can do what you like." Tsunade said in a motherly tone.

Sakura looked to Tsunade, shocked at what she said. Suddenly a big smile made its way to Sakura's face.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." Sakura said quietly.


End file.
